Women's Track Picked Fourth in HCAC Preseason Poll
GREENWOOD, Ind. – The Defiance College women’s track and field team received 52 points in the 2010 HCAC Preseason Poll, ranking fourth among the conference’s nine teams.
GREENWOOD, Ind. – The Defiance College women's track and field team received 52 points in the 2010 HCAC Preseason Poll, ranking fourth among the conference's nine teams. The Yellow Jackets also had five players recognized as HCAC Runners-to-Watch for the 2010 outdoor season.
Franklin College led the team standings with 75 total points, followed by Rose-Hulman with 67 and Mount St. Joseph with 65. After Defiance, Manchester (50), Hanover (36), Anderson (33), Transylvania (17) and Bluffton (10) rounded out the team rankings.
DC's Kaitlin Switzer, Marlea Rolander, Ashlyn Howell, Kristen Goldstein and Emily Cole were each recognized by the league office as HCAC Preseason Runners to Watch.
Kaitlin Switzer represent's the lone distance runner selected from Defiance College, after a standout indoor season in which she set school records in the 1,000 meter run, one mile run and distance medley relay. The Defiance, Ohio, native will look to continue her momentum into the outdoor season, where she was an All-Ohio performer one year ago.
Sophomore Marlea Rolander was terrific for the Yellow Jackets last season, earning All-HCAC and All-Ohio honors while being selected as the HCAC Track Athlete of the Week on three occasions. The junior hurdler was also honored as the HCAC's Most Outstanding Freshman of the Year for the 2008-09 season.
Freshman Ashlyn Howell burst on to the scene with a terrific indoor season earlier in the year, turning in a school-record 34-01.50 triple jump, which placed second in the HCAC. The All-Ohio qualifier will also be a major contributor in sprinting events, after placing seventh in the conference in the 200 meter dash, sixth in the 400 meter dash and fifth in the 55 meter dash.
Kristen Goldstein turned in All-Ohio performances in each of her first two seasons with the Yellow Jackets and stepped up her game last season to receive her first ever All-HCAC Honorable Mention. The Oak Harbor, Ohio, native holds the single fastest 60 meter dash time in school history, and appears prominently on DC's top-ten performances list, with top-three performances in the 100 and 200 meter dash, and top-two times in the 60 meter hurdles, 55 meter hurdles and the heptathlon.
Emily Cole has been honored as an All-HCAC performer in each of her first two seasons with the Yellow Jackets. The junior from Toledo, Ohio, owns the school record in both the indoor pole vault (9-06.25) and the outdoor pole vault (10-00.00). Cole will be looked on to lead an outstanding group of DC pole vaulters who are expected to be a major strength of the Yellow Jackets' track and field team this season.
The outdoor track and field team will kick off this Saturday, March 20, with the annual Dick Small Invitational in Defiance, Ohio. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.