Women’s Track Takes Third at Yellow Jacket Open

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The women's track and field squad placed third among 10 teams at the Yellow Jacket Open on Friday. Kaitlin Switzer ran a dominant 3,000-meter steeplechase in the last home meet of her career, and Katie Heitkamp set a conference-leading pole vaulting mark to highlight the meet for DC.

Erika DeBos had an outstanding meet for the Yellow Jackets, beginning with a personal-record time of 2:32.45 in the 800-meter dash. Her performance ranks among the top-ten in school history for the event and fourth in the conference this season. She added a fourth-place finish in the high jump, clearing 4-07.50, and another third-place finish as a member of DC's 4x400-meter relay team, which crossed the line in 4:19.91 to rank third in the HCAC this season.

Courtney Swabb and Katie Heitkamp joined DeBos on the 4x400-meter relay team, and competed in the 400-meter dash as well, finishing fifth and seventh at the meet respectively. Swabb crossed the line in 1:06.26, marking the fourth-fasted time in the conference this season, while Heitkamp took fifth in the conference standings with a time of 1:07.50.

Heitkamp made her biggest statement in the pole vault, however, clearing 9-08.00 to place first in the HCAC this year.

Marlea Rolander had a nice day in the hurdling events, placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles before coming in second with a personal-best time of 1:10.06 in the 400-meter hurdles. The junior hurdler now ranks among the top-five in the HCAC in both events.

Distance runners, Ellen Stryffeler and Kate Busto, pushed each other in the 5,000-meter run before placing first and second among collegiate finishers respectively. Stryffeler crossed the line in 19:30.73 to move into third place in school history and fourth in the HCAC standings, while Busto's personal-best time of 19:50.86 gives her a top-five time in the conference.

Other notable performers included Ashlyn Howell, who placed in four events including a third-place mark in the triple jump and fourth place in the long jump. Howell cracked DC's top-ten long jump performances list with her leap of 15-09.75, and moved into second place in the HCAC standings.

The track and field team will return to action next Saturday, April 9, at the Adrian All-American Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.