Rolander, Witherspoon Earn HCAC Weekly Honors
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Freshmen Marlea Rolander and Blake Witherspoon each won event titles at the 15th-annual Dick Small Track and Field Invitational and have been tabbed as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Track Athletes of the Week.
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Freshmen Marlea Rolander and Blake Witherspoon each won event titles at the 15th-annual Dick Small Track and Field Invitational and have been tabbed as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Track Athletes of the Week. [Release]
Rolander cruised to a victory in the 100m hurdles at the Dick Small Track and Field Invitational. The hurdler crushed the field at Dick Small with a time of 15.44, the best 100m hurdles time by a HCAC athlete in over four years. Rolander also ran on DC's 4x100 relay team that garnered third-place honors. The Napoleon, Ohio native owned the top mark in the HCAC in the 55m hurdles this indoor season, running a career-best time of 8.69 at the DePauw Indoor Qualifier.
Witherspoon got his outdoor season off to a great start, winning three events at the Dick Small Track and Field Invitational. The Lorain, Ohio native claimed individual titles in both the 100m and 200m dashes, racking up nearly 25 points at the meet. He was a member of the Jackets' winning 4x100 relay team that came within one hundredth of a school record, while also anchoring the 4x400 team to a second-place-finish. The sprinter topped the HCAC indoor performance list earlier this season in both the 55m and 200m dashes, while earning All-Ohio honors in the 55m.
The Defiance College Track and Field team will look to continue its success this weekend at the Polar Bear Invitational on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University. The event is scheduled to kick-off at 12:00 p.m.