Hillsdale College announces Wamsley adds Outdoor All-American honor to haul as Chargers open NCAA DII Outdoor Championships
From May 26, 2023 post.
Hillsdale College junior Liz Wamsley entered the 2022-23 school year searching for her first career All-American honor at the collegiate level.
Now, just nine months later, Wamsley has a complete collection for all of the three seasons she competes in.
Wamsley capped a stellar 2022-23 school year with a third All-American honor during the first day of the 2023 NCAA DII Outdoor Championships on Thursday in Pueblo, Colorado, adding an eighth place finish in the 10K to her 22nd place finish at the 2022 NCAA DII Cross Country Championships in December in Seattle to bring home All-American honors, and her seventh place finish in the 5K at the 2023 NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March in Virginia Beach to earn a second honor.
With the recognition, Wamsley becomes the first Hillsdale College athlete to earn All-American honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field in the same school year since Molly Oren in 2016-17, joining a very exclusive club of people to accomplish that feat as Chargers.
Wamsley did it by running an impressive tactical race in the 10K, positioning herself with the main pack and staying close to the top eight spot that would give her the All-American nod throughout. The junior entered the final lap of the race in ninth but within striking distance of the eighth place competitor, and Wamsley was able to kick her down for the eighth and final All-American spot, finishing in 35:35.13.
It was a busy first day for the Chargers, who had four athletes competing in four events throughout the afternoon and evening.
In the 400m hurdles preliminaries, junior Shura Ermakov ran a strong race to advance to the final on Saturday, placing third in her heat and seventh overall across the three heats in a time of 59.84. Ermakov will be one of nine competitors in the event on Saturday, and will be looking to add a fourth All-American honor as a Charger to the three she earned previously as a part of 4x400m relays with Hillsdale.
Meanwhile, Margaret Scheske saw a stellar career with the Chargers that included seven trips to NCAA DII Championships over the course of her four years at Hillsdale come to an end with a 14th place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase. Scheske finished in 11:02.49, battling to the end but missing out on advancing to the finals in the event by a narrow margin against a tough field of competitors.
In the field, sophomore Averi Parker placed 16th in the hammer throw in her first trip to the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships in the event. Parker improved with each attempt and her best mark of 54.24 meters is close to her personal best in the event, but the sophomore was unable to make the final against strong competition in the event.
The Chargers will return to Pueblo tomorrow for the second day of competition, with qualifiers in two events. Sophomore Reagan Dahlquist competes in the high jump at 6:45 p.m. ET for Hillsdale, and the Chargers' 4x400m relay team of Ermakov, Dakota Stamm, Reese Dragovich and Francesca Federici will look to advance from preliminary heats taking place at 9:50 p.m. ET and into the finals on Saturday.
Original source can be found here.