The Hillsdale College women's track and field team stayed busy over the weekend with two meets, sending a small group to Grand Valley State University on Friday and hosting its own home Wide Track Classic in the Biermann Center on Saturday.

A sprint-heavy crew did well at the Bill Clinger Classic in Allendale on Friday, headlined by a solid 4x400m relay that took first place and earned a NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark. The team of Francesca Federici, Zoe Burke, Reese Dragovich and Josee Behling finished in 3:50.55, currently the 19th best time in NCAA DII and putting the Chargers in the conversation to make the NCAA DII national meet in March.

Dragovich also placed third in the 400m dash (57.43) for Hillsdale at GVSU, with Burke taking fourth in 58.08.

Friday, however, really belonged to Lucy Minning, as the junior ran big personal bests in the 60m dash (7.70, third place) and the 200m dash (24.79, second place) to put her on the cusp of her first ever provisional qualifying marks. Freshman Sarah Chappelle also ran a personal best in the 60m hurdles (8.92) as well for the Chargers on Friday.

Those strong performances carried over to Saturday's home races. Minning continued a great weekend by winning both the 60m dash (7.77) and 200m dash (25.24) for the Chargers at the Wide Track Classic, with teammate Anna Lamoreaux taking fourth in the 200m dash in 26.61.

Hillsdale also got a victory in the 800m run from junior Anna Roberts, who won in 2:23.50, and a 1-3 finish in the mile, as freshman Evyn Humphrey took first in an impressive time of 4:59.04, less than five seconds off the provisional mark, in her first collegiate race. Fellow freshman Allison Kuzma was close behind Humphrey in third in 4:59.04.

In the field, Grace Chen claimed an event victory for the Chargers with a mark of 10.75 meters in the triple jump, and freshman Olivia Newsome achieved her first career NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw, taking runner-up honors with a mark of 17.60 meters that ranks her 21st in the nation currently.

Juliet Bernard took fifth behind Newsome in the weight throw with a mark of 15.94 meters, and Mackenzie Morrison placed fifth in the shot put with a personal best throw of 12.60 meters.

In the pole vault, Tara Townsend exceeded the NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark with a clearance of 3.90 meters to take third, though that didn't surpass her personal best in the event from earlier in the year. Teammate Katie Clifford finished fourth in the event with a clearance of 3.65 meters.

Back on the track, Hillsdale took three of the top five places in the 3,000m run, led by sophomore Anna Stirton, who placed second in 11:05.77. Eleanor Clark took third in a personal best time of 11:06.41 for the Chargers, and Kayla Loescher placed fifth in 11:30.79.

Competing for the second straight day, Chappelle placed third in the 60m hurdles in 9.08, and Burke took fifth in the 400m dash in 59.45.

Hillsdale will compete again in two meets next weekend, as the Chargers send a contingent to the Akron Invitational in Ohio, while the bulk of the squad travels north to the Jet's Pizza Invite hosted by Saginaw Valley State.

Photo by Vinny Hill