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Chargers set the pace in the Volunteer State
Nikkila earns NCAA provisional qualification
in 800
By Stephanie Riebe
Collegian Reporter
The Charger distance
runners have proved that small school athletes can perform with
big name colleges and perform well. Seven members of the men's
track team competed in the Sea Ray Relays in Tennessee last
Thursday through Saturday, finishing with high results.
Junior Michael Nikkila left the competition
with an NCAA qualifying time in the 1,500-meter run. Junior
Kyle Fujimoto finished in first place in the 10,000-meter run,
competing against athletes from schools such as Syracuse, Vanderbilt
and Marquette.
"It was an incredible meet and a great
opportunity to compete against some of the nation's best runners,"
junior Gordon Fisher said.
While a handful of the distance runners were
representing the Charger team in Tennessee, the rest of the
team traveled to the Cumberland Invitational on Saturday in
Williamsburg, Ky.
"We had some really good things happening,"
coach Bill Lundberg said.
The Chargers had top 10 finishes in all of
their distance events at Cumberland. Sophomore Scott Kallgren
placed first in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3 minutes,
59.60 seconds. Freshman Tim Sayers took second in the 3,000-meter
steeple chase in 9:51.13. Junior Justin Perez finished fourth
in the 5,000-meter run at 15:22.09, with freshman Lewis Butler
coming in fifth (15:26.60) and junior David Sayers in sixth
(15:28.72).
The Chargers also recorded several personal
bests: Freshman Alex Schmidtendorff took fifth place in the
1,500-meter (4:04.61), and fellow freshman Peter Sercer's 2:02
finish in the 800-meter earned him a personal record and 21st
place.
"We look forward in continuing to progress
and come along as we prepare for our two home meets coming up,"
Lundberg said.
The team will host the Hillsdale GINA Relays
April 22-24 and the GLIAC championships May 6-7.
The Chargers will compete in the Eastern Michigan
Invitational on Friday in Ypsilanti, Mich. On Saturday the team
will host, along with the women of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority,
the Farmhouse 5K, which will begin at 10 a.m. at the George
Roche Sports Complex.
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Photo courtesy of Peter Ulrickson
Ethan Rouse hands off to Charles Henry in
the mile relay. Hillsdale finished with a time of 3:31.11.
Photo courtesy of Peter Ulrickson
David Sayers (L), Lewis Butler
and Justin Perez lead the way in the 5,000-meter run.
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