Another weekend of split meets proved fruitful for the Hillsdale College women's track and field team, which netted two improved provisional marks along with several strong finishes.

Hillsdale had its best performances at the Akron Invitational on Friday, as its jumps and throws squads had big showings in a Division I-hosted meet.

The Chargers took three of the top six marks in the pole vault, led by Tara Townsend, who won the event with a personal best clearance of 4.03 meters. The mark moves Townsend up to ninth in NCAA Division II with a new provisional qualifying mark, and all but ensures Townsend will travel to Indianapolis in March for her first ever NCAA DII Indoor National Championships. Katie Clifford took fourth and Kaylee Jackson sixth as well for Hillsdale, with both clearing 3.53 meters.

In the throws, senior Katie Sayles took second in the weight throw with a mark of 18.37 meters, a provisional qualifying mark but not an improvement on her best performance this season. She was followed closely by freshman Olivia Newsome with a big personal best throw of 18.24 to take third. That mark is also a provisional qualifying mark for Newsome and puts her in the national meet conversation, as she currently ranks 16th in the nation.

Mackenzie Morrison took third in the shot put (12.48 meters) and Baelyn Zitzmann placed third in the high jump (1.55 meters) as well at Akron.

The rest of Hillsdale's squad took to the track at Saginaw Valley State University for the Jets Pizza Invitational on Friday and Saturday, with multiple notable finishes.

Lucy Minning continued her strong recent form in the sprints for the Chargers, finishing third in the 60m prelims in 7.73 and winning the 200m prelims in 24.88 on Friday. She did not make the return trip on Saturday to compete in the finals after her strong Friday races.

Hillsdale also got a 1-2 finish in the 800m run, with senior Reese Dragovich leading the way in 2:12.21 and Nicole Marshall close behind in 2:15.41. Sophomore Savannah Fraley won the 3,000m run for the Chargers in a personal best time of 10:14.15, and Reagan Dahlquist took second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.57 meters.

The Chargers now turn their focus to a big meet this coming weekend, the Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational hosted by Ashland. This meet is well attended by some of the top teams in the Midwest and represents Hillsdale's best chance at big personal bests ahead of the G-MAC Championships back in Ashland at the end of February.

Photo by Vinny Hill