The Hillsdale College men's track and field team split its squad this weekend between two high-level meets, finding notable successes at both the University of Michigan Invitational in Ann Arbor and the GVSU Mike Lints Invite in Allendale.

At GVSU, Hillsdale had a strong day in the throws, highlighted by the weight throw competition. NCAA DII leader Ben Haas took home the crown with a mark of 21.84 meters, just shy of his season best, but the biggest story was down the results chart, as freshman Dominic Scharer became just the third athlete in Hillsdale College history to throw over 21 meters with a third-place mark of 21.09 meters on Saturday. That mark also moves Scharer up to fifth nationally in the NCAA DII currently, making him a contender at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March. Dimitry Ermakov took ninth in the invitational division as well with a throw of 18.42 meters, while in the open division both Magnus Heckel (16.98 meters) and Jackson Childress (16.35 meters) threw personal bests.

Hillsdale also had a solid day in the jumps at Grand Valley. Alfonso Garcia won the triple jump with a new personal best of 14.13 meters, the eighth-best mark in the event indoors in Hillsdale College history, while freshman Luan Kummle took fifth in the long jump with a new personal best of 6.42 meters as well. Yahli Salzman also finished ninth in the shot put with a mark of 14.16 meters.

On the track, Hillsdale's distance crew had success in Allendale. The Chargers took four of the top seven spots in the 5,000m run, with Nathaniel Osborne winning in a new personal best time of 15:03.50, just ahead of teammate Emil Schlueter who took second in 15:04.84. Will Winsor placed sixth in 15:14.63 and Jefferson Regitz seventh in 15:20.34 as well for Hillsdale.

In the mile, freshman John Richardson took ninth in an impressive personal best time of 4:14.39, while fellow freshman Henry Thuet finished 11th in 4:26.92, also a collegiate best. In the open section of the mile, Hillsdale's Daniel Johnson ran a new personal best of 4:24.02.

Hillsdale took its sprinters to Ann Arbor to compete against tough NCAA Division I competition in the University of Michigan Invitational, and the Chargers held their own. Freshman Watson Magwenzi ran one of the fastest 60 meter dashes in program history to place sixth, running 6.94 in the prelims, the fifth best finish in Hillsdale history in the indoor event.

In the 400m dash, Zealand Tarrant led the way with a 49.91 to place ninth, just ahead of Jack Polizzi in 10th at 49.99 and Wyatt Widolff in 13th in 50.43. Hillsdale's Mark Masaka also took fifth in the 600m run in 1:23.02, and the foursome of Tarrant, Polizzi, Widolff and Masaka placed fifth in the 4x400m relay in a time of 3:21.27. 

Connor McCormick also took seventh in the pole vault for the Chargers in Ann Arbor, clearing 4.71 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.