Four Tracksters Earn All-HCAC; Miller Named Co-MVP

GREENWOOD, IND.  --  Junior Eme Miller (Portland, Ind./Jay County) headlines one of four members of the Defiance College women's and men's outdoor track and field team to garner All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference honors who was also selected as Co-Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete accolades.  [All-HCAC Teams]

Miller joins Translvania (Ky.) University's Jordin Fender as co-MVP's after capturing the HCAC title in two events which included the 3000-meter steeplechase in a school and conference record-setting time of 11:09.96.  Miller also posted the winning time in the 5000-meter run in another school record time of 17:58.46.  In addition, she also placed fourth in the 1500-meter run breaking the all-time school mark with a time of 4:54.64 which had stood since the 1978 season.  

Miller caps her final track season with her second All-HCAC selection in 2015-16 after earning second-team recognition following the indoor season.  Overall this season, Miller broke a combined eight school records over the course of the indoor and outdoor track campaigns, including setting records in the same event on two occasions in the 3000-meter steeple and the indoor 5000-meter run.  She ends her career as a four-time HCAC Champion (Indoor and Outdoor), including a three-time 3000-meter conference event winner (2014-16).  Miller is a six-time All-HCAC honoree with three All-Conference and three second-team awards, including one All-Sportsmanship Team recognition.

Joining Miller on the All-Conference Teams is junior Alexis Walker (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) and sophomore Brooke Waidelich (Pettisville) who were both selected as a honorable mention pick.  In addition, Waidelich was also named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

Walker was one of the top throwers for the Yellow Jackets both during the indoor and outdoor seasons.  At this year's outdoor meet, she competed in three events and posted a top-10 finish in two of them, including a third-place showing in the hammer throw with a distance of 138' 6.00".  She also placed eighth in the discus following a best throw of 115' 7.00".  In addition, Walker placed 13th in the shot put (33' 9.50").  Walker was the top overall finisher for DC five times, primarily in the hammer, during the outdoor season.

Waidelich placed third in the discus at the HCAC meet with a toss of 120' 5.00".  She went on to finish 14th in the javelin (88' 5.00") and 15th in the shot put (32' 2.00").  Waidelich finished in the top-ten in the discus four times this season, including winning the event at the Early Bird Invitational hosted by Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology on Mar. 19 with a throw of 116' 8.00".  She posted a season-best throw in the event of 125' 7.00" which came at the annual Defiance Dick Small Invitational and placed third overall.

On the men's side, the Yellow Jackets had one representative in junior Zach Rousch (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) who was selected to the All-Sportsmanship Team.  Rousch competed in the distance running events this season and recorded a 13th-place finish in the 10,000-meter run at the HCAC Outdoor Championships in a time of 35:23.73.  He also went on to run season-best times of 16:53.09 in the 5000-meter run at the Division All-Ohio Meet and 4:32.49 in the 1500-meter run at the Ohio Northern University Polar Bear Invitational.