Big day for Hillsdale’s throwers as Charger men kick off season at GVSU Holiday Open

The Hillsdale College men’s track and field team got off to a strong start in the throws on Friday, kicking off the 2025-26 indoor season at the GVSU Holiday Open.

All four of Hillsdale’s season-opening provisional qualifying marks came in the shot put and weight throw at the meet, showing why the Chargers are one of the best throws programs in NCAA DII.

Leading the way was senior and defending NCAA DII weight throw national champion Ben Haas, who began his title defense by taking second overall and first among collegiate throwers in the event on Friday with a provisional qualfying throw of 21.33 meters. 

Haas was joined in setting a provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw by not one, but two teammates on Friday. Redshirt freshman Dominic Scharer had an collegiate debut to remember on Friday, opening his career with a 20.02 meter mark that makes him the just the fourth Charger in program history to break 20 meters in the weight throw. Along with Scharer, junior Dimitry Ermakov had a massive new personal best in the weight throw to earn a provisional mark in the event for the first time with a distance of 18.58 meters. That mark gives Ermakov the sixth-best weight throw mark in Hillsdale College history as well.

Along with his performance in the weight throw, Haas also started strong in the shot put, placing fourth with a throw of 17.24 meters to give himself a second provisional mark on the day. Scharer also had a notable debut in the shot put, with a top throw of 14.99 meters that gives him the eighth-best mark in program history as well.

On the track, Hillsdale had a few notable standouts. Senior Gabriel Phillips ran well against an elite field in the fastest heat of the 5,000m run, finishing ninth in a new personal best time of 14:30.62, the fourth-best mark in the event in program history. Freshman John Richardson also had a strong first collegiate 5K, finishing in a strong time of 15:02.60 for the Chargers as well, and junior Caleb Youngstedt also ran a new personal best in the 5K of 15:06.17 for Hillsdale.

Two freshmen put together impressive first races as well for the Chargers. Watson Magwenzi had a debut to remember for Hillsdale, becoming just the 11th Charger in program history to go under seven seconds in the 60m dash with a time of 6.99, and also running a solid 22.53 in his first collegiate 200. In the 400m dash, freshman Jack Polizzi also started fast for Hillsdale, placing sixth in 49.48 just ahead of teammate Zealand Tarrant, who ran a new personal best 49.77 to take ninth.  Magwenzi also was pushed in the 60 and 200 by sophomore Sam Jones, who a personal best 7.03 in the 60 and a 22.63 in the 200.

Senior Mark Masaka placed 10th (1:56.19) and freshman Wyatt Widolff placed 14th (1:57.48) in the 800m run as well for Hillsdale, and freshman Luan Kummle took 14th in the long jump (6.26 meters).

Hillsdale now heads into the Christmas break, and will pick back up in 2026 with the Al Campbell Invite hosted by the University of Akron on Jan. 16.