Uplifted
Charger track and field stepped up performances in time to break records, provisionally qualify for Nationals.
John Anderson
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Sports
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Eight members of the team headed to Boston University for an invitational meet, while the rest competed at Ohio Northern University.
Assistant coach Andy Towne, who traveled with the team to Boston, said the meet was a significant part of Hillsdale's strategy to qualify its athletes for nationals.
"We looked at the results from the last couple years and noticed that a large majority of 200, 400, and 800-meter runners all qualified for Nationals here," Towne said. "It's the quality of the track, it's a faster surface."
Freshman Marta Scheiwe said she enjoyed the feel of the large meet at Boston where hundreds of athletes competed.
"There were a lot of [Division I] and Ivy League schools," she said. "It's neat being a [Division II] school and competing against people you wouldn't normally see."
The strategy of sending sprinters to Boston worked: three Chargers achieved provisional qualifying times in four events.
Sophomore Jared Krout, junior Jazmin Williams and Scheiwe in the 400 and 200 dash qualified provisionally. Krout also took fourth place in the 400 with 48.36 seconds, a top 10 national performance.
At Ohio Northern, junior Sarah Kauk re-established her school record in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.66-m, and winning first place. The jump ranks her ninth in the nation. Sophomore Anna Leutheuer threw the 20 pound weight 16.02-m, achieving a provisional qualification and breaking the school record.
Junior Jason Stomps broke into the national top 12 with a 35-pound weight throw of 17.51, taking second place at the Ohio Northern meet. Stomps said he is not satisfied with his latest performance, as he has his eye on achieving an automatic qualification.
"It was good, but it's not good enough," Stomps said. "I'm just thinking about that auto qualification now."
Towne said splitting up the team between two meets does not generally affect it.
"It's not an ideal situation, but we needed it as a big meet preview to get us ready for some of the larger meets, like Nationals," he said.
Kauk said it was difficult having some of the coaches in Boston, but the athletes made do by supporting each other.
"We had contact back-and-forth, and we got to hear how everyone was doing in Boston," she said. "Also, it was good to see how my teammates helped us out."
Assistant coach Sarah Hinkley became ill last week and went to the hospital but was released without having to be admitted.
"It's been a blow to us," head coach Bill Lundberg said. "We're covering a lot for her. Fortunately, she is recovering quite well."
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