Last weekend, the Hillsdale College track and field team traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to compete in the Hilltopper Relays.
The women’s 4x400m relay team of freshman Shura Ermakov, sophomore Zalonya Eby, freshman Dakota Stamm, and junior Kajsa Johansson, took first in the event with a time of 3:47.08 and earned a qualifying provisional mark.
“Overall we did a good job of racing strategically,” Ermakov said. “I was able to close the gap somewhat so that our last girl could finish out strong.”
Ermakov also set a new personal best and nearly made a provisional mark in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing in second overall in 1:01.87.
Freshman Judith Allison took fourth behind Ermakov with a time of 1:03.64. She also finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles, with freshman Louisa Klaserner coming in fourth ahead of her in 15.16 seconds.
“The 400 hurdles went a lot better for me than last week,” Ermakov said. “Last week was my first time doing 400 hurdles. I was definitely able to adjust a lot better and drop about three seconds off my time, so that was great.”
Eby, Johansson, sophomore Alanna O’Leary, and Stamm also ran the 4x100m relay and finished in third with a time of 47.62 seconds.
Junior Calli Townsend finished fourth in the 800 meter at 2:16.77, and freshman Meg Scheske followed behind to take eighth at 2:20.25.
“Outdoor track is a lot more fun,” Ermakov said. “The atmosphere overall is a little better. Everyone’s enjoying themselves more.”
Scheske also followed junior Maryssa Depies in the 1500 meter race. She took sixth with a time of 4:27.48, while Depies finished fourth with a time of 4:35.25.
Sophomore Nikita Maines won the shot put, earning a provisional mark of 13.92 meters. She increased her mark from last week by 30 centimeters.
“I hit a provisional mark, which is pretty exciting so early in the season,” Maines said. “I ended up winning shot put for the whole meet, so that was pretty cool and exciting. Overall, it went well.”
In the javelin event, freshmen Eden Little Peyton Panka and sophomore Emma Shea took the top three spots in javelin. Little threw a mark of 39.25, and Panka and Shea both set new personal bests with marks of 38.64 and 37.74 respectively.
“I’m just really optimistic about the outdoor season,” Maines said. “I’m excited to see what else is going to happen for me and the team in general.”
On the men’s side, senior Ian Brown won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.45 seconds. Freshman Sean Fagan finished in third in 14.71 seconds.
“There were a couple of big performances, which is exciting,” Brown said. “It’s very fun getting people accustomed to racing outdoors.”
In the 200 meter dash, Brown set a new personal best of 22.25 seconds, placing seventh.
Fagan nearly earned a provisional mark when he placed third in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.42 seconds, less than a tenth of a second short of earning the mark.
“No one’s really been at their full potential,” Fagan said. “So over the next couple of weeks, hopefully we should see some really fast times.”
In the 4x400m relay, Fagan joined freshmen Benu Meintjes and Ian Calvert, and sophomore Jacob Schmidt, placing second with a time of 3:24.25.
Calvert also stood out in the 800 meter run, setting a new personal best with a time of 1:55.03 in fourth place.
In the field, freshmen T.J. McGinnis and Ethan Perttula competed in the discus, taking sixth and thirteenth place after throwing marks of 40.64 and 36.70 meters, respectively.
After being on the road for the past month, the Chargers will next compete at home in the Hillsdale Invitational on April 10.
