The Hillsdale College men’s track and field team competed in two meets this weekend: the Miami Hurricane Alumni Invitational in Florida and the OWU Marv Frye Invitational at Ohio Wesleyan.
Just five athletes competed in Miami for the men’s team. All-American sophomore Jared Schipper had a notable performance in the pole vault, winning the event. He jumped 16 feet, 3/4 inches, which was only slightly under his performance last weekend.
“I had a good time. The weather was super nice the whole time, and everyone was in a good mood. I didn’t jump very well — no excuse for that. Everyone did really bad there because the sun was in our eyes,” Schipper said. “It was just kind of like a fluke that I won in all honesty.”
At Ohio Wesleyan Hillsdale put up several solid performances.
Junior Todd Frickey took first in the 100-meter with a time of 10.63 seconds, just off the provisional standard for the national list.
Hillsdale took second, third, and fourth in the 200-meter. Freshman Nathan Pando placed second, finishing in 22.05 seconds. Freshman Levi Wyse was right behind with a time of 22.30 seconds, and senior Alex Mexicotte took fourth in 22.51 seconds.
Senior Noah Hiser placed second in the 400-meter with an impressive time of 49.81 seconds.
Freshman Tanner Schwannecke placed second in 800-meter with a time of 1:55.69, and junior Andrew Beaird took third, finishing in 1:57.91.
“I’m alright with it, I just opened up. I would have liked to get first place. But that just gives me more fuel to add to my fire for the rest of the season,” Schwannecke said. “I’m hoping I can improve upon those times and do big stuff at conference.”
Sophomore Evan Tandy ran both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles this weekend and placed second and third, respectively. Tandy set two new personal records — in the 110-meter with a time of 15.30 seconds, and 57.79 seconds in the 400-meter.
The 4×100-meter relay came in first for the second consecutive weekend. Frickey, Pando, Hiser, and Wyse ran the relay in that order, finishing with a solid time of 42.18 seconds— not far from the provisional standard time.
“These first couple meets are where we learn our responsibilities and see where people fit and everyone has taken it to heart — trying to achieve our goals of making it on the podium at conference and at the national meet,” assistant coach Nathaniel Miller said. “I’ve been really pleased with the sprinters these past couple weeks.”
The 4×400-meter relay placed second, running the race in 3:25.51. The relay was run by sophomore David Chase, Hiser, Schwannecke, Tandy.
In the long jump, Mexicotte took second, jumping 21 feet, 8.25 inches. This is his first year competing in the event and fourth time overall.
Miller said he’s happy with the dynamic of the team, explaining that so many freshmen have stepped up and the veterans have improved. He said they continue to focus on the process each day and remember that they need to keep working on the little things in order to reach their final form.
“This is a really challenging time of the season. The training load is the highest of the season and on top of that they have to compete out in the weather they compete in. They’ve been performing really well considering all those obstacles,” Miller said.
The team will be competing at home this weekend against other GLIAC teams as they prepare for the conference meet in only three weeks.
