Yellow Jackets Compete In HCAC Championships

LEXINGTON, KY. – The Defiance College men's track and field team traveled to Lexington, Ky. to compete at Transylvania (Ky.) University for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and sits in fifth place with 17 points after day one.

The first day of competition consisted of Yellow Jackets competing in a mix of preliminary events along with final rounds. Freshman Aaron Schwarzbek (Sherwood/Fairview) gave Defiance its first points of the evening after leaping a height of 6' 4" in the high jump which allowed him to finish runner-up. Schwarzbek also qualified for finals in the 400-meter hurdles after finishing fifth in his heat (eighth overall) with a time of 58.22 seconds.

Freshman Darius Spinks (Washington, Pa. /Washington) will compete again tomorrow after qualifying in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. Spinks finished first in both heats and third overall in the 100-meter (11.16 seconds) and second (22.35 seconds) in the 200-meter dash.

Sophomore Jacob Rindler (St. Henry) posted a solid qualifying round time of 1:59.98 in the 800-meter run. Rindler will also move on to the finals after finishing second in his heat, fifth overall.

Senior Jacob Rodriguez (Ligonier, Ind. /West Noble) finished in second after tossing the hammer 161' 11" on his fourth attempt. Fellow Yellow Jacket sophomore Joseph Carpenter (Rootstown/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished close behind Rodriguez with a distance of 134' 4".

The Yellow Jackets will return to action tomorrow (Apr. 25) for the final day of the HCAC Championships. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.