Hillsdale College sophomore
Amelia Lutz had a banner weekend for the Chargers women's track and field team at the Al Owens Invitational, even by her lofty standards.
Lutz, an indoor All-American in the shot put, set three new provisional marks and won two events for Hillsdale at the meet hosted by Grand Valley State, headlined by a demolishing of the old Hillsdale outdoor shot put record.
The sophomore won the shot put with a mark of 16.27 meters, breaking the old Chargers record of 15.54 meters set by Nikita Maines in 2022 by several feet. The mark is the second-furthest outdoor shot put throw in G-MAC history and the second-best mark in the event nationally at the NCAA DII level to date. It's still short of the 16.42 meter heave Lutz used to set Hillsdale's indoor record earlier this season, meaning there's still room for her to extend the record further over the next six weeks.
Lutz also captured the discus throw title with a toss of 45.86 meters, a new personal best that ranks fifth all-time at Hillsdale and 35th at the NCAA DII level so far. Those two marks on Saturday came in addition to a strong outing in the hammer throw on Friday, as Lutz took third in the invite second with a new personal best of 53.56 meters that ranks ninth all-time at Hillsdale and 20th in NCAA DII currently.
Hillsdale had several strong finishers in the hammer, as
Olivia Newsome took fifth in the invite section with a mark of 50.50 meters, and
Regan Wight took runner-up in the open section with a mark of 47.59 meters as well.
Erika Mogelvang placed fifth in the high jump (1.57 meters) and
Sophia Williams eighth in the pole vault (3.22 meters) in the field as well for the Chargers.
On the track, Hillsdale's 4x100m relay team of
Francesca Federici,
Lucy Minning,
Anna Lamoreaux and
Anna Roessner ran a solid time of 46.33 to earn runner-up honors, though the mark wasn't an improvement on their school record and provisional qualifying time from two weeks ago. Federici also set a new personal best in the 100m dash of 12.31, finishing sixth in the prelims, while Roessner led five Hillsdale athletes in the top 11 of the 400m dash, placing fourth in a time of 57.39
Evelyn Overlease took sixth in the 400m for the Chargers in a personal best time of 58.09,
Jessica Church placed seventh in a season-best time of 58.42, and Minning (ninth, 59.03) and Lamoreaux (11th, 59.41) both recorded personal bests as well.
In the 100m hurdles, sophomore
Sarah Chappelle had a stellar race, tying her personal best with a time of 14.54 to place third and remain in eighth all-time at Hillsdale in the event.
Eleanor Clark also placed eighth for the Chargers in the 1,500m run in a personal best time of 4:43.74, and
Savannah Fraley finished behind her in 12th with a season-best time of 4:46.56.
Next up for the Chargers is a return to their home track for the 56th annual GINA Relays, beginning on April 16. A highlight of the Hillsdale College track and field calendar with a long history of strong competition, the meet will take place over three days from April 16-18 out at Hayden Park on the Hillsdale College campus.
