A trip to Texas last week proved fruitful for the Hillsdale College men's track and field team, and especially senior Richie Johnston.

Competing in the loaded Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays against a field of mostly Division I athletes on Thursday night, Johnston broke his own school record in the steeplechase with a time of 8:53.50 to place third overall. The mark is not only a Hillsdale school record but a NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in the race that currently stands as the third-best time in NCAA DII, and one that should give Johnston a real chance to make a third trip to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships in May.

 Johnston was not the only Charger to lay down a provisional mark in Austin this week. Less than two weeks after competing at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, senior Cass Dobrowolski cleared 2.06 meters to place sixth in the high jump at the Texas Relays, a mark that currently ranks 10th in NCAA DII and will give Dobrowolski a shot to compete outdoors at the national meet as well.

Along with Johnston and Dobrowolski, senior Ross Kuhn had a great week in Texas as well, setting and then resetting a personal best in the 1,500m run. Kuhn took third in his heat and 11th overall in the Texas Relays with a time of 3:51.72 on Thursday night, then traveled to the Texas State Bobcat Invite in San Marcos, Texas on Friday and shattered that previous time with a 3:48.72 to place second. That time puts Kuhn in striking distance of the Hillsdale school record in the event of 3:46.75 set by Kurt Knueve back in 1997 with the vast majority of the outdoor season remaining.

Gabriel Phillips also set a new personal best for the Chargers in Texas, placing 11th in the 5K at the Bobcat Invite in 14:56.83 and 16th in the 1,500m run in a new personal record of 3:55.94.

While Hillsdale had distance athletes and jumpers competing in Texas, the Chargers also sent a sizable contingent to the Tiffelberg Invite in Ohio on Saturday, with several strong finishes.

The Chargers went 1-2-3 in the 800m run in Tiffin, led by freshman Daniel Johnson who set a new personal best to win the race in 1:59.77. Zealand Tarrant placed second in 2:02.02 for Hillsdale, and Zach Self took third in 2:03.34.

In the sprints, Jamahl Burke took third in the 200m dash for the Chargers in 22.32, while Emil Schlueter led the Chargers in the 1,500m run with a fourth place finish and a personal best time of 4:10.23, and Hudson Moorefield led Hillsdale in the 400m dash with a sixth place finish and a personal best time of 51.52.

Hillsdale will split its squad once again next week, taking a group of sprinters down to North Carolina to compete in the VertKlasse Meeting at High Point University. The majority of the squad will compete in the Chargers' first outdoor home meet of the season on Saturday at Hayden Park, beginning at 11 a.m.