The spring outdoor track and field season is heating up, as the Hillsdale College women's squad was in action in multiple places this weekend, including the Chargers' first home invitational of the year.

The Chargers sent a small group of sprinters down to High Point in North Carolina for the VertKlasse Meeting on Friday and Saturday, and were rewarded with personal best times.

Both Josee Behling and Francesca Federici took top eight spots in the 400m dash in a meet with several Division I schools competing, and both set new personal bests. Behling finished third with a time of 55.94, and Federici took seventh with a time of 57.21. Lucy Minning also set a personal best for the Chargers with a third place finish in the 100m dash, with a time of 11.96, and also placed fifth in the 200m dash with a time of 24.41.

Hillsdale placed three in the top eight of the 800m run at the VertKlasse as well, with senior Reese Dragovich leading the way in fifth (2:12.83). Nicole Marshall took seventh (2:15.11) and Zoe Burke eighth (2:16.17) for the Chargers.

At home on Saturday, Hillsdale dominated their own invitational at Hayden Park with 14 first place finishes. In the field, Grace Chen won the pole vault with a clearance of 3.35 meters in her first ever collegiate attempt at the event, and also won the triple jump with a mark of 10.84 meters.

Freshman Baelyn Zitzmann was a winner in the field and on the track for the Chargers, taking first in the high jump with a clearance of 1.64 meters, ahead of teammate Reagan Dahlquist's 1.59 meter mark, and winning the 100m hurdles in a personal best time of 15.53, beating out teammate Nola Hipkins' time of 15.87 in second place. Zitzmann also took second in the 200m dash in 26.71 behind teammate Anna Lamoreaux, who won the race in 26.05.

Lamoreaux also won the 100m dash for Hillsdale, in a personal best time of 12.57, and Hipkins won the 400m hurdles for the Chargers in a time of 1:08.51, beating out teammate Gianna Lodice who placed second in a personal best time of 1:08.66. Lodice also was a champion for Hillsdale in the long jump with a distance of 5.26 meters, just edging out teammate Katie Kennedy's second-place mark of 5.25 meters.

Averi Parker was a two-time winner for the Chargers in the throws, taking first in the hammer throw with a mark of 52.46 meters, and first in the discus with a mark of 38.45 meters. Parker also placed second in the shot put with a throw of 13.45 meters, while Katie Sayles was runner-up behind Parker in the hammer throw with a mark of 51.32 meters, and Mackenzie Morrison took second in the discus behind Parker with a throw of 38.12 meters.

In javelin, former Hillsdale College volleyball and women's basketball star Marilyn Popplewell was victorious in her debut with the track and field team, winning the javelin with a throw of 33.63 meters.

Hillsdale got two personal bests in a 1-2 finish in the 3,000m steeplechase, with Eleanor Clark winning in a time of 11:35.46, and Reagan Kobach finishing second with a time of 13:35.47. The Chargers also went 1-2 in the 400m dash, with Evelyn Overlease winning in 1:00.57, and Lucia Wilson placing second in 1:01.26, and Whitney Wilkinson of Hillsdale took first in the 800m run with a time of 2:30.69.

Victoria Stonebraker was runner-up in the 5,000m run in a personal best time of 18:46.39 as well for Hillsdale.

The majority of Hillsdale's athletes will take this weekend off in preparation for the return of the GINA Relays at Hillsdale College on April 17 and 18, the first time in four years Hillsdale's legendary invitational has been held after delays for the construction of the Chargers' new track out at Hayden Park. A small group of Hillsdale's heptathletes will compete on Wednesday and Thursday at Hayden Park, however, as Hillsdale hosts a two day, multi-only event on April 9 and 10.

Photo by Sarah Chappelle