Courtesy: Ashley Van Hoose.
Weight throwers junior Amelia Lutz and senior Ben Haas broke school records in shot put and hammer throw, respectively, at the Al Owens Invitational hosted by Grand Valley State University April 10-11.
Lutz won the shot put with a mark of 16.27 meters and broke the former Charger record of 15.54, set by ’23 Nikita Maines in 2022. Her throw set the second-best mark in both the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II. Lutz’s mark is just short of her 16.42 meter mark that holds the indoor school record.
“I ended up throwing 16.27, so it was only 20 centimeters off of my indoor record, but I feel way more confident in my skill and all the work we’ve put in,” Lutz said. “I feel like I can actually perform relaxed and I think that’s really going to help. We’ve seen a lot of indicators of a big mark coming, so I’m hoping that I can just relax and enjoy the moment, and I feel like that’s when I do my best.”
Lutz also won discus throw and set a new personal best with a mark of 45.86 meters. She took third in the invite section of hammer with a personal best of 53.36 meters. Junior Olivia Newsome came in fifth in the invite section with a mark of 50.50 meters, and junior Regan Wight took second in the hammer open with a throw of 47.59 meters.
Haas is the defending NCAA DII hammer throw champion and took third with a personal best throw of 67.36 meters. He broke his own school record of 67.21 meters set in 2025. Haas also took fourth in shot put with a mark of 17.01 meters.
Freshman Dominic Scharer came in ninth in the invite hammer throw with a mark of 57.02 meters, and junior Dimitry Ermakov took fourth in the open hammer throw competition with a personal best of 55.86 meters. Ermakov said he was happy about his score and enjoyed the meet.
“To me at least, meets are where you get to showcase all of the hard work you’ve put in,” Ermakov said. “But it’s also where you get the blood boiling. I love meets, because it’s where you get to go crazy with it. I don’t normally scream or anything, but at meets I can go ballistic. That’s why I have a lot of fun, because I’m like a totally different person.”
In shot put, sophomore Yahli Salzman set an outdoor personal best and took fifth with a mark of 14.81 meters. Junior Jackson Childress came in 10th in discus with a throw of 46.56 meters.
On track, seniors Francesca Federici, Lucy Minning, Anna Lamoreaux, and freshman Anna Roessner ran the 4×100 meter in 46.33 and came in second. Federici broke her personal record in the 100-meter with a time of 12.31, and Roessner took fourth in the 400-meter in 57.39.
Freshman Jack Polizzi came in seventh in the 400m in 49.56, followed by junior Zealand Tarrant in 11th with a time of 50.31.
Junior Eleanor Clark finished eighth in the 1500-meter with a personal best of 4:43.74, followed by junior Savannah Fraley in 12th with a time of 4:46.56. Freshmen John Richardson and Henry Thuet set personal bests in the 1500 placing seventh and 18th with times of 3:56.56 and 3:49.80, respectively, followed by freshmen Jefferson Regitz, who took 19th with a time of 3:59.95.
In pole vault, senior Connor McCormick came in seventh with a clearance of 4.52 meters. Freshman Luan Kummle took sixth in long jump with a collegiate best of 6.68 meters. He said he’s hoping to breach the seven meter barrier.
“A lot of times you’re able to achieve it but you just don’t know it, and once you’ve seen that it’s possible, that unlocks the ability to do it again,” Kummle said. “I just have to do it once, I think, and then I can do it again.”
At the Outdoor Mid-Week Multi April 8-9, sophomore Baelyn Zitzmann was runner-up in the heptathlon, with a personal best score of 4,486. Freshman Bristol Whitley followed in third with a score of 4.168, and sophomore Aubrie Wilson marked a score of 3.656.
The Chargers will host the 56th annual GINA Relays April 16-18 in Hayden Park.
