Junior Cass Dobrowolski led the Chargers at the MSU Spartan Invitational in Lansing, Michigan, April 5-6, winning the high jump with a season best and NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark of 2.09 meters. 

Junior Ross Kuhn placed second in the 800- meter, with a time of 1:57.35.

“For myself, even though the time I ran was far from spectacular, my execution of race strategy was perfect and it was also a confidence boost to beat two guys that beat me in the indoor mile at the conference meet and also a two-time2x national qualifier in the mile as well,” Kuhn said.

On the track, seniors Drew Ransom, Jamahl Burke, Owen Gardner, and Joseph Ritzer placed first in the 4×100 relay with a time of 42.69 seconds.

“We had a great week of work, especially in the weight room and with recovery. It’s always great to see that strength transfer to the track. Similarly, our 4×100 handoffs are getting cleaner and I definitely attribute that to the work we did,” Ransom said. 

 Gardner also placed third in the 200 meters with a PR time of 22.96 seconds. Burke also placed third in the 400 meters with a season-best time of 49.93 seconds. Sophomore Colsen Conway placed fifth in the 100 meters with a time of 11.98 seconds. Sophomore Mark Masaka placed fourth in the 800 with a time of 1:57.50. Senior Sean Fagan won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.53 seconds. Fagan also won the 400 hurdles with a season-best time of 55.8 seconds. 

In the 5,000, sophomore Emil Schlueter placed thirteenth, running a PR with a time of 15:47.35. Senior Caleb Oser also ran a PR in the 5,000 placing fifteenth with a time of 15:51.89.

Ransom also placed third in the 100 with a time of 11.89s seconds, and second in the 200 with a time of 22.35 seconds. Ransom said the team is excited to compete and is ramping up for the big meets coming up.

“We finally get to run outside, which we’ve missed, but the other part is the great energy and momentum we built up through our successes during the indoor season,” Ransom said.

Senior Benu Meintjes placed third in the 400 with a time of 49.93 seconds.

“Training has pretty much been the same, with just a little more emphasis on race simulation. Coach had me work on my start and first half of the race the last couple of weeks and we could see it in the first 200m of the race as I got out a little better than usual,” Meintjes said. 

In the field, freshman Jackson Childress placed third in the discus with a mark of 42.99 meters. Freshman Ethan Dorrell placed fourth in the javelin throw with a mark of 49.22 meters. Junior Ben Haas placed fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 61.59 meters. Junior Alfonso Garcia placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 13.34 meters. 

“As the weather continues to get better and better, we will see more and more time drops! We are also very excited to host the GMAC championships at Hayden Park! The environment alone will help spur some great results,” Kuhn said. 

Hillsdale will send athletes to race out in California at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California from April 11-13 and at the Long Beach State Invitational in Long Beach, California from April 12-13.