The Hillsdale College women's track and field team returned to action from the Christmas Break with a big meet on Saturday, traveling to Indianapolis for the Hoosier Horsepower Classic.

The meet not only included a strong field with multiple Big Ten schools and Division I athletes making up more than half of the competitors, but was also held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the facility that will play host the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March, giving Hillsdale athletes a sneak peak at the conditions they might be competing in later this winter.

One athlete who took advantage of the opportunity in a big way was senior Katie Sayles, who placed fourth in the weight throw behind three DI competitors with a season best mark of 19.10 meters. That throw would have been the second best mark in NCAA DII entering the weekend, and would have earned Sayles All-American honors if she'd thrown in at last season's indoor championships. It continues a strong start to the indoor season for Sayles, who looks set to make her third national meet appearance. Teammate Olivia Newsome placed ninth with a throw of 16.79 meters as well.

Hillsdale had three additional provisional qualifying marks in the competition. Freshman Baelyn Zitzmann put her name into the conversation by clearing a collegiate best 1.69 meters and exceeding the NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in a seventh place finish in the high jump. That mark currently places Zitzmann in a tie for 18th in NCAA DII, with plenty of time to improve on that start.

Junior Tara Townsend placed sixth in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.86, a provisional qualifying mark but not an improvement on her previous season best, while senior Reese Dragovich led a strong showing by the Chargers in the 800m run with a fifth place finish and a provisional qualifying time of 2:12.91, though that also did not better an earlier mark set by Dragovich this season. 

Zoe Burke placed ninth in the 800m run behind Dragovich in 2:17.42, and Megan Roberts took 10th in 2:19.00 for Hillsdale. 

The Chargers had several other notable results against the strong field. Junior Lucy Minning placed ninth in the 60m dash in 7.88 and took 13th in the 200m dash in a personal best time of 25.17, while freshman Allison Kuzma placed 10th in her first collegiate 3,000m run in 10:07.88. 

Savannah Fraley took 11th (5:17.16) and Anna Roberts 12th (5:20.35), respectively in the mile for the Chargers, while Josee Behling placed 12th (58.81) and Francesca Federici 14th (59.21) as well for Hillsdale.

The Chargers next compete at home this coming Saturday, as Hillsdale hosts its annual Wide Track Classic on Jan. 25.