The Hillsdale College men's track and field team wrapped up the G-MAC Outdoor Championships on Friday at Ashland with a few strong finishes and a major award winner.
Two-time G-MAC champion
Ben Haas was named Field Athlete of the Meet after winning both the hammer throw and shot put titles on Wednesday and Thursday. Now a five-time G-MAC Champion after three previous indoor weight throw titles at conference championships, Haas is the Hillsdale men's track and field team's first G-MAC Field Athlete of the Meet in program history. He'll be a contender for multiple national championships at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships at the end of May in Pueblo, Colorado, as the top seed in the nation in the hammer throw, and a top five seed in the shot put.
In terms of events taking place on Friday, the Chargers had several performances worth mentioning. Junior
Connor McCormick set a new personal best with a breakthrough jump in the pole vault, clearing 4.93 meters to finish runner-up in the conference. McCormick's mark was also a NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark that ranks 33rd in the nation.
Also in the field, senior
Cass Dobrowolski placed third in the triple jump for the Hillsdale College men, with a mark of 14.03 meters, to score valuable points for the Chargers.
On the track, Hillsdale had two placers in the 800m run. Senior
Ross Kuhn took fifth in 1:52.97 for the Chargers, and
Mark Masaka placed seventh in 1:54.94. The Chargers also got a point-scoring performance from their 4x400m relay team of
Jamahl Burke,
Hudson Moorefield,
Mark Masaka and
Zealand Tarrant, which finished sixth in 3:20.78.
As a team, Hillsdale placed seventh with 61 points in one of the tougher track and field conferences at the NCAA DII level. Ashland was the team champion overall with 194 points, with Tiffin taking second with 164.
The G-MAC Championships in the rear view, Hillsdale now heads into last chance week looking to get as many athletes to the NCAA DII national meet as possible. While Hillsdale has several locks, including Haas, Dobrowolski and
Richie Johnston, several others will race multiple times over the next eight days looking to earn their way into the field. The action starts on Wednesday with Hillsdale's home Last Chance Meet, and will continue through Sunday.
Photo Courtesy of Ashland Athletics
