The Hillsdale College Chargers showed up to compete following a holiday hiatus, traveling to the University of Findlay for the Findlay Open.
In the field events, sophomore Ben Raffin vaulted his way to first with an NCAA Division II provisional mark of 4.77 meters. In the long jump, sophomore John Baldwin secured a second place finish with a leap of 6.76 meters.
In high jump, senior Ryan Thompson finished in fourth place with a jump of 1.93 meters.
“I think I have a lot more to improve on, but you know, I’m happy with the provo. It’s what I was looking for at that meet,” Raffin said. “I’m just looking to move forward now in the process.”
On the track, senior Ian Brown ran a 8.57 to qualify for the finals of the 60m hurdles. In the finals, he improved with a time of 8.50 and placed fifth.
“I’m excited that the meet went as well as it did. For the first races back after Christmas break, it feels awfully good to run nearly as fast as your best,” Brown said. “Obviously there is a little rust from not being able to train in the Biermann, but all things considered, this weekend went well for my teammates and me.”
Sophomore Jacob Schmidt qualified for finals in the 60m dash and ran a 7.19 to earn seventh place.
The men also placed well in the mile. Freshman Sean Hoeft placed fourth with a time of 4:35.16. He was followed by his fellow freshman Isaac Waffle who ran a 4:49.16 to end up in 11th place.
In the sprints, the Chargers dominated the 200m dash placing five men in the top 10 finishers. Junior Adam Wade lead the team with a second place finish and a time of 22.75. Third place went to Jacob Schmidt (23.29).
To round out the day of good competition, the men won the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:28.04.
“I was just glad I didn’t get passed and we could pull off the win,” Baldwin said.
The team will be Youngstown State University for their third meet of the season on Friday, Jan. 17.
