Defiance Hosts the Defiance College Invitational

DEFIANCE, OHIO – The Defiance College women's track and field team hosted the Defiance College Invitational and finished with a team score of 18 points, placing 11th overall.

The invitational was the biggest meet in the history of the George M. Smart Center and consisted of 11 teams and 494 athletes. The women's team of Ohio Northern University finished in first place with a team score of 156 points.

The Yellow Jackets produced six top-ten finishes in five different events for the day.

Senior Kelsey Bowling (Sidney/Houston) ran the 3,000-meter run in a time of 12:45.27 to finish ninth. Junior Eme Miller (Portland, Ind. /Jay County) took home the only first-place finish for Defiance, in the 5,000-meter run. Miller crossed the line at the 19:03.61 minute mark.

Freshman Courtney Kunk (St. Henry), senior Marissa Bussard (Canal Winchester/Bloom-Carroll), freshman Aaron Textor (Swanton) and Bowling teamed up together for the distance medley relay and placed sixth overall with a time of 14:56.48.

In the field events, sophomore Alexis Walker (Fort Myers, Fla. /Fort Myers) led the Yellow Jackets, finishing fifth in the weight throw with a distance of 13.30 meters. Walker also threw the shot a distance of 10.25 meters, which was good for a ninth-place finish. Fellow thrower, freshman Hannah Williams (Swanton) placed eighth in the weight throw, after throwing a distance of 11.94 meters.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Friday, Jan. 30 when they travel to Angola, Ind. to compete at Trine (Ind.) University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.