Hillsdale College track and field competed at home. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

The Hillsdale men’s track and field teams earned two provisional qualifying marks at the home Wide Track Classic against Adrian College, Walsh University, and Siena Heights University Jan. 27. 

Junior Ben Haas bettered his provisional qualifying mark in weight throw, finishing first in the weight throw with a mark of 20.47 meters, simultaneously improving his last performance and clinching him fifth in the nation. Junior Cass Dobrowolski earned his first Division II provisional qualifying mark in the high jump.

On the track, senior Alex Mitchell placed first with a personal best time of 8:33.83 in the 3000-meter run, a facility record. Sophomore Colsen Conway placed second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.62, and senior Benu Meintjes placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.97. 

“I was happy with the race that I ran, especially with how hard we have been training lately,” Mitchell said. “I’m confident it will all pay off come championship season.” 

Sophomore Seth Jankowski placed first in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:56.53 and junior Isaac Doughty placed third in the weight throw with a mark of 14.92 meters. Dobrowolski won the high jump with a mark of 2.05 meters and placed second in the long jump with 6.32 meters, a career best. 

“This was our first home meet this year and as a team, we did quite well,” Doughty said. “We had many provisional marks across the field events and some great performances on the track.” 

Sophomore Emil Schleuter placed second in the mile with a time of 4:38.49. He said the team was discouraged last week after the cancellation of the Hillsdale Winter Opener, but this meet provided a chance to get back to competing well.  

“It was nice to bounce back and have home turf advantage,” Schlueter said. “I know some of our guys did really well.”

Senior Sean Fagan placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.40. He said the team had a strong performance Saturday.

“The team did very well this weekend,” Fagan said. “As to be expected in a January meet, there were no earth-shattering performances.” 

Fagan said the team was very encouraged by the support shown by the people who came out on Saturday.

“I was not the only one to notice it, but we had a lot of people show up to the meet, which was really cool to see,” Fagan said. “Having a packed house does have quite the same impact as it would in a football game, but it’s still very encouraging as a team to look up and see all of our classmates and friends in the bleachers and on the railings cheering us on.”

The Chargers will race next in the two-day Ashland Lightgiver Invite on February 2-3.

 “I would summarize it as a very positive early season meet with lots of good performances but also lots of room to improve,” Fagan said.