Defiance Runs at Indiana Wesleyan
MARION, IND. – The Defiance College men’s track and field team braved the chilly temperatures to compete at the Indiana Wesleyan Polar Bear Invitational on Friday.
MARION, IND. – The Defiance College men's track and field team braved the chilly temperatures to compete at the Indiana Wesleyan Polar Bear Invitational on Friday.
The team was led by freshman Vince Jackson (Mason), who won the high jump for the second time this outdoor season, this time with a leap of 1.92 meters (6 feet, 3.5 inches). That leap moved him into 15th on the NCAA Div. III National list through the early stages of the outdoor season.
Junior Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz.) highlighted the throwers with a pair of top eight finishes. Castillo finished fifth in the discus throw with a toss of 41.18 meters (135 feet, 1.25 inches), while placing eighth in the shot put with a best mark of 12.84 meters (42 feet, 1.5 inches).
Several other throwers had solid days, as junior Andrew Fahler (Wellington) placed ninth in the hammer while setting a personal best mark in the discus, finishing in the top half of the 40-man field.
Justin Bergquist (Cincinnati/Northwest) added a 13th place finish in the shot put, while Matthew Downs and Spencer Ross threw for personal bests in multiple events.
On the track, freshman Cody Drumm-Turner finished in the seventh spot with an 11.50 second 100-meter dash time before running a personal-best 23.62 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Freshman Maurice Brewer added personal-bests in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, as well.
Freshman Gabe Caris led the way with an eighth-place time of 52.33 seconds in the 400-meter dash, while junior Brandon Zartman (Paulding/Wayne Trace) ran a personal-best 54.66 seconds in the event.
Drumm-Turner, Caris, Brewer, and Jackson also ran the 4x100-meter relay, placing in the fourth position in the race with a time of 45.96 seconds.
Junior Daren Gies finished in the top half of an 800-meter run field that saw over 50 runners in the race, as he finished with a personal-record 2:07.79 to clock into the 23rd position.
No team scores were taken in this meet.
The track and field team will return to action on Friday, Mar. 30 with the April Fools Invitational at Otterbein University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.