Times dropped and marks improved for the Hillsdale College women's track and field team in a busy weekend that saw the Chargers competing all across the state of Michigan.
The weekend began at home on Friday with a pentathlon-only home event, Hillsdale's second Mid-Week Multi Invite.
Baelyn Zitzmann brought home the victory with a new season-best score of 3,483, just shy of her school record in the event and the 23rd best mark in NCAA DII so far. Zitzmann set seasons bests in the long jump (5.24 meters), high jump (1.65 meters) and 60m hurdles (9.10) to move up in the national standings.
Teammate
Bristol Whitley took second behind Zitzmann with a personal best score of 3,097, moving into 10th on the all-time list for the pentathlon at Hillsdale with that score. Whitley set new personal best marks in the long jump (4.99 meters), shot put (8.35 meters) and high jump (1.62 meters) to earn the runner-up finish.
Next up for Hillsdale was a trip to Ann Arbor for the program's sprinters and jumpers to compete in the University of Michigan Indoor Invitational. Leading the way on the track was freshman phenom
Anna Roessner, who took third in a strong field in the 200m dash in a new personal best time of 24.31, the second-fastest indoor time in the event in school history and the 11th best mark in NCAA DII so far. Teammate
Lucy Minning had a sensational day in the 200 as well, placing fourth in a season-best time of 24.63 and setting a provisional mark with the 38th fastest time in NCAA DII currently as well. Roessner and Minning also teamed up with
Francesca Federici and
Jessica Church to win the 4x400m relay in 3:51.09, a season-best time, as well.
Federici placed fifth in the 400m dash (57.74) and Church eighth in the same event in 58.90 for Hillsdale, while
Sarah Chappelle took an impressive fourth in the 60m hurdles in 8.88 after running a season-best time of 8.80 in the prelims, just 0.05 off her personal best in the event.
Tara Townsend also placed fourth in the pole vault (3.98 meters) at U of M, and
Erika Mogelvang tied her personal best in the high jump with a clearance of 1.60 meters to finish sixth.
At the same time as the meet in Ann Arbor, a different group of Chargers were competing across the state in Allendale at Grand Valley State's Mike Lints Invite on Saturday. The biggest achievements happened in the field, where
Amelia Lutz brought home the shot put title with a throw of 15.80 meters, and Reagan Wight had another massive personal best in the weight throw of 18.41 meters to place second. Wight's mark was the eighth-best in the event in Hillsdale history, and ranks 13th nationally, giving the Chargers another thrower making a push to qualify for the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March. Lutz also threw a new personal best in the weight throw of 15.93 meters as well.
On the track,
Anna Lamoreaux placed twice for the Chargers, finishing fourth in the 200m dash (26.00) and sixth in the 60m dash (7.95). Hillsdale also went 1-2-4 in the 5,000m run, with
Eleanor Clark winning the race in a personal best time of 17:45.23,
Grace Tykocki placing runner-up in 18:26.85, and
Victoria Stonebraker placing fourth in 18:44.50.
Evelyn Overlease took third (58.70) and
Johana Krutzik fifth (59.05) in the 400m dash at Grand Valley, while
Katie Kennedy placed seventh in the long jump (4.98 meters).
Next weekend is a huge one for the Chargers, as Hillsdale returns to Allendale for both days of the GVSU Big Meet, looking to use the top notch competition to lay down season best marks with the G-MAC Indoor Championships looming three weeks from now.
