Women’s Track Dominates 16th Annual Dick Small Invitational

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The women's track and field team began its outdoor season with a dominant performance at the 2011 Dick Small Invitational on Saturday, garnering 222 points at the meet to put a 101-point gap between itself and second-place Goshen College.

Katie Heitkamp recorded three first-place performances at the meet, taking top honors in the pole vault and long jump, and joining Ashlyn Howell, Courtney Swabb and Kali George on the Yellow Jackets' winning 4x400-meter relay team. Heitkamp's mark of 9-06.25 in the pole vault is a personal best for the sophomore athlete, and moves her into a tie for fourth place on DC's all-time performances list.

Howell added a first-place showing in the triple jump, leaping 31-01.25 to edge out George by less than a foot for the top spot, and finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.23 seconds. Courtney Swabb placed second in the 100-meter dash, crossing the line in 14.08, and took third in the 200-meter dash, just a half-step behind freshman athlete, Kim Bingley, who won the event in 28.23 seconds.

Kaitlin Switzer finished second in both the 800-meter dash and 1,500-meter run. Her time of 2:33.46 in the 800-meter dash places the senior among the top-ten on DC's record book for the event. Fellow distance runner, Ellen Stryffeler, had a nice day as well, taking top honors in the 10,000-meter run while improving her third-place ranking on DC's all-time 1,000-meter performances list.

Other event winners for Defiance included Marlea Rolander, who placed first in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles, and Erika DeBos, who won the high jump with a mark of 4-09.75 (1.47 meters).

The Yellow Jackets will return to the track in one week, when they head to Indiana Wesleyan University to compete in the Polar Bear Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 10:00 a.m.