The Hillsdale College men's track and field team sent squads to both the Friday and Saturday editions of the GVSU Big Meet this weekend, looking to take advantage of strong competition with the G-MAC Indoor Championships looming in two weeks.

Held annually with two separate events in Allendale over two days, the GVSU Big Meet is one of the most competitive indoor meets in the Midwest and a golden opportunity to put down an elite time or mark.

On Friday, Hillsdale was led by its throwers. Senior Ben Haas captured the weight throw title with a distance of 21.86 meters and remains the top-ranked individual in NCAA DII, triumphing over three of the other four individuals in the top five in the weight throw nationally at Friday's meet. Haas also took fourth in the invitational section of the shot put, with a mark of 17.03 meters.

Behind Haas, Dominic Scharer took third in the weight throw at GVSU, with a mark of 20.48 meters, and continues to rank fifth nationally in the event. Magnus Heckel took sixth for the Chargers in the open section of the weight throw with a personal best mark of 17.74 meters, beating out teammate Dimitry Ermakov who also threw 17.74 meters on a tiebreaker, with Ermakov taking seventh. Matthew Belanich finished 15th with a throw of 16.59 meters as well.

On the track, Ross Kuhn followed up his school record in the mile with another strong effort against a tough field, placing fourth in the mile invite with a time of 4:03.14. Gabriel Phillips took seventh in the second-fastest section of the 5K for the Chargers, finishing in 14:41.00, while John Richardson placed 16th in the 3,000m invite in 8:44.38 and Henry Thuet ran a personal best in the open mile with a time of 4:23.28.

In the sprints, Watson Magwenzi placed fourth in the 200m open with a time of 22.22 and 23rd in the 60m open with a time of 7.02, while Jack Polizzi took 24th in the 400m invite in 49.60 and Mark Masaka placed 35th in the 800m open in a time of 1:56.84.

Alfonso Garcia also took sixth for the Chargers in the field, with a triple jump mark of 13.61 meters.

On Saturday at GVSU, Connor McCormick set a new season best in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.80 meters to reach a provisional qualifying mark in the event, and the senior now ranks 45th nationally. Christian Hinrichs also placed 10th in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 12.31 meters for the Chargers, while Luan Kummle placed 11th in the long jump with a mark of 6.09 meters.

On the track, Zealand Tarrant took 14th in the 400m open with a new personal best time of 49.55, and Sam Jones took 19th in the 200m open with a time of 22.51 and 23rd in the 60m open with a time of 7.09.

The Chargers are two weeks away from the all-important G-MAC Indoor Championships, hosted by Ashland beginning on Feb. 27. Hillsdale will look to make its final preparations leading up to that meet this coming weekend. The Chargers will send a small contingent to Ann Arbor on Friday to compete in the University of Michigan's Silverston Invite, and will host their annual Tune-Up Meet on Saturday.