First indoor track MIAA championship for Hope women

CHAMPIONS — The women’s track team claims their MIAA trophy before running a victory lap around the track. (Hope College)

There was a lot of excitement among Hope College teams this weekend. From basketball, to track and field, to swimming and more; the camaraderie was felt throughout each competition field. Hope women’s track and field showed up to Trine University ready to compete on Saturday. Many athletes ran doubles or triples in regards to events, giving everything they had throughout the day. Starting out with the field events, four women scored in high jump including the first place title. Sophomore Addyson Gerig took first, senior Alison Rich finished fifth, freshman Hannah Bredeweg scored sixth and junior Allison VanderStoep stole eighth to round out the event. In triple jump, the school record was surpassed by Gerig, who took third with a jump of 10.58 meters. Fourth place was taken in the long jump by sophomore Mitchel Achien’g. More points in pole vault were scored by sophomore Emma Johnson, coming in fifth place. For throws, senior Haley Fischman came in sixth place for shot put, as well as placing seventh in the weight throw along with senior Rachel Alfond, who scored eighth.

For the sprint events, vital performances were seen across  each event. In the 60-meter hurdles Rich placed second and Achien’g took fifth. Achien’g also scored in the 60-meter dash with a fourth place finish. Senior Rachael Satkiewicz took seventh place in the 200 meters.

Moving on to the distance side of things, strong races and teamwork were displayed on the track. Starting out with the distance medley relay, the woman finished first with a team of sophomore Alicia Bostwick, sophomore Hailey Pickelheimer, senior Alexis Guttilla and junior Avery Lowe running the 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters respectively.

Next in the 5,000 meters junior Emily Hamilton placed second along with snagging a school record for the indoor race with a time of 17:54. In the mile run, senior Rachael Webb lead a  group of four runners to finish in the top eight. Scoring for Hope were Webb in second, Lowe in sixth, junior Sarah Neumar in seventh and Bostwick in eighth. Four Hope runners also scored in the 800-meter run: Webb finishing second followed by sophomore Chelsea Miskelley in third, Gutilla in fourth and sophomore Sophia Vander Kooy in eighth. Nearing the end of the meet three women scored in the 3,000 meters to keep Hope in the lead. Hamilton, sophomore Anna Frazee and Lowe scored third, seventh and eighth respectively.

Going into the final event, the 4×400 meter relay, Hope had a two point lead and had to beat Albion in order to secure the win. Each athlete was running their second or third events of the day. Despite their tired  legs, the women carried out a courageous performance. In the order of sophomore Nicole Kruithof, Webb, Miskelley and Satkiewicz, the girls chased down Albion for third place. Satkiewicz made the critical pass on the last lap, making for an exciting end to the meet. Hope took first in the MIAA conference with a score of 131.5, behind Trine with a score of 130. Every point scored made a difference, and each athlete did what they needed to do to make it happen. Go Hope! The men’s team also performed well on Saturday, taking third place overall. Stand out performances were seen by the distance medley relay ran by junior Andrew Kalthoff, senior Brandon Wolliston, junior Colin Thomas and senior Benjamin Pederson. Junior Justin Freeman clocked a school record in the  60-meter dash with a runner- up finish in 6.99 seconds. Junior  Ben Turner claimed the school record in pole vault with a fourth place finish and jump of 4.30 meters. The men’s 4×400 relay also ran a school record, coming in second place with performances by Wolliston, freshman Terrell Solberg, junior Eddie Ip and senior Matt Ruff. Freshman Zackary Murphy ran for first place in the 800 meters to claim his first conference title. The meet was an overall success for both teams.