The men's and women's track teams proved that when competing against Division I schools the Chargers are up for the challenge.
Last Friday and Saturday, the teams traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to take part in the two day Hoosier Relays. The weekend posted many indoor seasonal bests for the Chargers.
“This is the first time I have brought my teams to compete in this meet since the late 1980's,” head coach Bill Lundberg said.
“It was an exciting two-day competition to be a part of.”
The team said the meetwas a good experience early in their indoor season.
“I saw some women who had competed at the Olympic trials and one who had been an Olympic champion for four years,” captain Sara Monteleone said.
“That was pretty exciting. It's good to see people a level above you, to see how they compete, to see what they do different from you. It helps you to become a better athlete.”
The women's team had a number of strong performances, marked by junior DiOnna William's (25.64) provisional national qualification in the 200 meter dash and junior Lindsey Stevens first place finish (10-11.75) in the pole vault.
Many of the Chargers had seasonal bests during Friday's preliminary races. Juniors Carrie Douglass and Heidi Johnson both posted seasonal bests in the mile, Douglass placing in fourth place (5:22.81) and Johnson in seventh place (5:20.09).
On Saturday, senior Candice Mulder finished eighth in the 400 meter dash (58.49).
Senior Stephanie Carroll placed fourth in the 1 mile race (5:01.33).
Sophomore Katie Smith (2.20.45) and freshman Jen Gunderson (2:21 .51) placed seventh and eighth in the 800 meter race.
In the 3000 meter race, junior Danielle Chase placed 14 th with a seasonal best of 10:50.90. Junior Shannon Stanglewicz had a lifetime best with a seventh place finish of 18:11.55. Sophomore Alissa Hall finished tenth (18:18.69) tallying another seasonal best for the Charger women.
In the field, three Chargers finished close together in the high jump: Senior Katie Simmons, freshman Margaret Ferries in eighth place (5-02.25) and junior Krista Pfautz in tenth place (5-02.25).
Along with Stevens' first place pole vault finish, sophomore Allison Schweda finished second in the vault (10-06.00).
Monteleone finished eighth in the shot put marking a seasonal best throw of 12.72 meters and junior Emily Sharp had a ninth place finish in the weight throw (14.81 meters).
“We have a lot of talented women on this team and I'm so excited to see what we can do this season,” Monteleone said.
“I think we're the strongest we've been since I've been here. We have the capabilities to take down a lot of records this season and I hope to see that the team does just that.”
The Charger men, started out strong in the mile with junior Nick Liversedge placing 15 th (4:26.05).
Junior Scott Kallgren finished 17 th (4:30.10) and sophomore Peter Sercer in 19 th place (4:30.15).
Seniors Kyle Fujimoto (15:01) and David Sayers (15:19) had top performances in the 5000 meter race. Fujimoto finished in fourth place.
Another notable finish for the Chargers was the second place finish by the 4x800 meter relay. The team of junior Charles Henry, Kallgren, Sercer and freshman Luke Preus finished with a time of 8:08.18.
“We had Charles starting as the first leg of the 800 for the very first time,” Lundberg said.
“He ran the first leg of the relay around 2:01, which is really impressive for an athlete running that relay for the first time.”
In the field, freshman Evan Steward gave the Chargers a first place finish in the pole vault with a 4.55 meter finish.
“First place finishes in a big meet against Division One schools are huge,” Lundberg said.
Friday, the teams head to Findlay, Ohio for a two-day Division II Team Challenge.