On Saturday, April 13, the Hillsdale College track and field team hosted an invitational for eight teams at Hillsdale’s Ken Herrick Track.
The meet was plagued with bad weather, including light snow and sleet. The men’s team earned third place, proceeded by Michigan Technological University and Grand Valley State University. The women’s team placed second, with Grand Valley in first place.
“The weather was the worst we’ve had all year,” women’s head coach Andrew Towne said. “It really covered our performance.”
The field-event athletes enjoyed the most success this weekend. Freshman Nathaniel Nobbs won the javelin event with a throw of 156 feet, 2 inches. Junior John Banovetz scored 26 points for the Chargers by placing in the top two of three different events.
Banovetz won the hammer throw (179-3) and stole second in the discus (161-9), earning him two NCAA provisional marks. To finish out his strong performance, Banovetz added second place in the shot put to his day’s winnings.
Junior Amber Mueller also scored 26 points for the Chargers. Mueller won first in the shot put (41-1 ½) and teammate sophomore Heather Lantis took second. Mueller also finished second in the javelin and the discus.
Hurdlers and juniors Matt Raffin and Elliot Murphy scored second and third in the 110-meter hurdles. Raffin also took second place in the 400-meter hurdles. Freshman Corinne Zehner finished second place in the 400-hurdles.
Sophomore Amy Kerst won first place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.84, followed by teammate Freshman Emily Oren who placed third in the event. Junior Victoria McCaffrey added another first place for Hillsdale in the 1500-meter run, with a time of 4:50.14.
As per NCAA regulations, the pole vault and high jump events were moved indoors to the Margot V. Biermann Center. This marks the first time that the Chargers have hosted a meet inside the new complex.
Inside, Senior Kayla Caldwell won the pole vault, soaring 13 feet, 7 ¾ inches. Caldwell currently ranks as the number one NCAA Division II women’s pole vaulter. Freshman Nick Schuster cleared 6-6 ¾ in the pole vault, earning him third place in the event. Senior Adrianna Yancho, taking the first place spot on the podium, leapt 5-4 1/2 in high jump.
This weekend, the Chargers will compete at a few different meets. In California, eight women and six men will compete at Mount San Antonia College and Cerritos College.
“We hope that his trip will give the entire season the boost it needs,” Towne said.
The remaining members of the team will travel to Eastern Michigan University to compete.
“With better weather, I would be surprised if we didn’t perform excellently this weekend,” Towne said.