The Chargers brought an impressive display of their talent to their first outdoor home meet of the season.
Freshman Margaret Scheske finished the 3000 meter steeplechase in 10:59.30, becoming the fifth woman in Division II to earn a provisional qualifying mark for the event.
“It was my first time doing that event, because last year track got canceled, so I was kind of nervous,” Scheske said. “It actually went really well.”
In the javelin event, freshman Eden Little threw a mark of 42.24 meters, taking second and earning a provisional mark placed 25th in the nation.
“The older kids on the team have said that outdoor definitely seems very much like it used to be,” Scheske said. “In training, our coaches just had us keep grinding, so that’s really fortunate.”
The 4x100m relay team, freshman Jillian Roney, junior Kajsa Johansson, junior Alanna O’Leary, and junior Zalonya Eby, finished first with a time of 47.19 seconds.
After suffering an injury last year, freshman Katherine Weldy competed in the hammer throw for the first time at last weekend’s meet, earning sixth place with a mark of 44.28 meters and taking eighth in conference rankings.
“I’m super blessed that I was able to recover this quickly,” Weldy said. “It’s definitely not where I want to be, but I’ve got to have a starting point somewhere. It’s finding a balance of pushing myself, but not going too far because I definitely want to still be healthy.”
Adding to the Chargers’ growing list of first-place events, freshman Dakota Stamm won the 400 meter dash in 56.34 seconds and set a new personal best. Stamm also set a second personal best in the 200 meter dash.
Junior Calli Townsend won the 400 meter hurdles in 1:03.16, leading freshmen Shura Ermakov, Judith Allison, and Isabella Gutierrez, who took second, third, and fourth in the event respectively. In the 1500 meter run, junior Megan Poole finished first in 4:54.21.
“Everyone has been really eager, and every week everyone’s been improving,” Weldy said. “It’s so much more fun. We always joke about how outdoor is real track, so everyone’s doing the events that they’re here for.”
On the men’s side, senior Ryan Thomsen earned a total of 6,486 points in the decathlon. He won the long jump and the shot put, setting a DII provisional qualifying mark and ranking 14th overall in the event for DII.
“It’s fun to be able to finally compete again,” Thomsen said. “It’s nice to be back in real track, back outdoors, and actually get a chance to do what we want to do.”
Thomsen’s fellow fifth-year senior Ian Brown finished second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.21 seconds.
Sophomore Ben Raffin earned a provisional qualifying mark in the 110 meter hurdles with a mark of 4.92 meters, tying for 17th place in DII after the meet. In the triple jump, freshman Joshua Nichols took first with a mark of 13.06 meters.
“We have a fairly young team this year, and they’re all very talented individuals,” Thomsen said. “It’s really been a learning year for a lot of us to be able to grow. For us older kids especially, to try and impart some of the experience we have for the younger kids has been really fun.”
Junior Adam Wade and freshmen Jamahl Burke, Benu Meintjes, and Ian Calvert won the 4x400m relay in 3:22.82. In the 400 meter dash, Meintjes and Calvert also placed first and third in 49.56 and 49.92 seconds, respectively.
In the coming weekend, the Chargers will head to Tiffin, Ohio, on Saturday, April 17 for the Tiffin Invitational.
