The Hillsdale College women's track and field team made a big splash on day one of the 2025 G-MAC Indoor Championships on Friday at Ashland, winning two conference titles and setting two new school records.
Hillsdale kicked off the day by crowning a champion in the very first event. Freshman
Baelyn Zitzmann entered the fifth and final event of the pentathlon in fourth place, but won the 800m run by a significant margin, erasing the deficit entirely and catapulting her to a G-MAC title in her first attempt. Zitzmann's score of 3,560 points breaks the old school record at Hillsdale of 3,482 set by
Neva Polo in 2024 on her way to the G-MAC Indoor title, thanks in part to a time of 2:22.17 in the 800m run and a first place finish in the high jump as well with a mark of 1.62 meters.
She was joined at the top of the podium later in the day by another Chargers freshman, as
Allison Kuzma ran away with the 5,000m run title in a personal best time of 17:01.48, a NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark and more than 20 seconds faster than the next best time in the race. Both Zitzmann and Kuzma's performances in their first ever indoor meet bode well for their futures at Hillsdale.
The Chargers had placers in two other events with finals on Friday. Senior
Katie Sayles took fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 17.80 meters and teammate
Olivia Newsome finished fifth with a throw of 17.56 meters to earn solid points for Hillsdale. The Chargers also took seventh in the distance medley relay, as the team of
Anna Roberts,
Evelyn Overlease,
Whitney Wilkinson and
Megan Roberts placed seventh in 12:21.10.
Along with finals on Friday, Hillsdale also had three runners advance through preliminary rounds to championship Saturday in a variety of sprint events. The biggest performance came from junior
Lucy Minning, who tied Hillsdale's school record in the 60m dash set by Kajsa Johansson in 2021 with a time of 7.58, earning her a spot in the finals with the sixth fastest mark. as well as improving her provisional mark in the event. Minning also made the finals in the 200m dash with a new personal best time of 24.39, another provisional qualifying mark and the seventh fastest mark in prelims.
In the 60m hurdles, freshman
Sarah Chappelle earned a spot in the finals with a new personal best of 8.75, which also doubled as the first provisional qualifying mark of her career. Last, but not least, in the 400m dash, senior
Josee Behling made the most of her last G-MAC Indoor Championships with her best ever time in the 400m dash, finishing in 56.21 to earn a spot in the finals and set a provisional qualifying mark as well.
Hillsdale will enter the final day on Saturday in third place with 31 points in the team race, with the bulk of the championships still to be handed out and plenty more contenders to battle for G-MAC honors. Championship Saturday begins at 10 a.m. with the women's high jump, with action on the track starting at 12:20 p.m. with the women's mile.
