Despite some illness, the track teams are starting their indoor season off strong. Saturday, the Charger women finished in first place and the men finished in fifth placed at the Findlay Division II Challenge.
The women's team placed first out of 12 teams earning 110.50 points. The Charger's were marked by another weekend of seasonal best performances in the field as well as on the track.
“The women's performance was outstanding,” head coach Bill Lundberg said. “The team has a lot of depth right now which is spread out nicely.”
The Chargers had strong finishes in the field, with junior Robin Joecken throwing 43-01.00 in the 35 pound weight throw and finishing fourth in the shot put with a throw of 40-03.50. Junior Emily Sharp placed second in the weight throw (51-05.50). Senior Kate Simmons had a personal best with a second place finish in the high jump (5-04.25). Junior Lindsey Stevens added 10 points to the team score with her first place finish in the pole vault (10-06.75). In the triple jump, freshman Margaret Ferries posted a season best.
Many seasonal best times were marked for the sprinters and mid-distance Charger women. Junior Krista Pfautz, junior DiOnna Williams and sophomore Katie Spice all notched personal bests. Senior Candice Mulder added another first place finish for the team in the 400 meter dash.
The women's distance events were marked by seasonal best performances in the one mile race by sophomore Alissa Hall and junior Danielle Chase. In the 3000 meter race, senior Callie Adamson and sophomore Hannah Agauas both ran at a season best pace.
With some of the Charger men taking Saturday off for practice or illness, the team still finished fifth with 48 points.
“Everyone is putting forth their best effort, and it puts us at an advantage because when injury does occur, as it has for many of our top runners, we always have two or three guys ready to step it up and take over an event,” junior Nick Liversedge said. “With the continued hard work we've been putting forth, we will definitely see some results at the conference meet.”
Liversedge finished second place in the mile (4:19.67) giving himself a seasonal best time. Junior Scott Kallgren placed fifth and added another seasonal best at (4:24.34). Senior David Sayers added another second place finish for the team in the 3000 meter race (8:47.00).
In the 60 meter dash, senior Matt Kaler had a seasonal best in the preliminary race (7.38). The 400 meter race was marked by freshman Brett DeCou's seasonal best (51.77) time.
The field events were marked by the Charger's performances in the 35 pound weight throw by freshman Greg Dixon's 41-06-00 throw. Sophomore Peter Ulrickson had a seasonal best with his sixth place finish in the pole vault (13-06.50).
Saturday the teams will travel to Ypsilanti for the Eastern Michigan Classic.