Waidelich Wins Weight as DC Places Sixth

ANDERSON, IND. -- The Defiance College women's track and field team placed in the sixth spot at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship meet at Anderson (Ind.) University on Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets scored 41 points, ahead of Anderson, Mount St. Joseph, Transylvania, and Franklin. Rose-Hulman cruised to the conference title with 188 points, while Bluffton placed second with 90 points. Hanover, Manchester, and Earlham rounded out the top five spots.

Senior thrower Brooke Waidelich (Pettisville) brought an HCAC title back to Defiance in the weight throw, as her career-best throw of 15.39 meters (50 feet, 6 inches) was almost a full meter ahead of the competition. The throw also moved Waidelich into a second-place tie on the all-time DC performance list. DC throwers finished the event with four of the top six spots, as sophomore Madi Bowman (Eaton) and senior Hannah Williams (Swanton) placed third and fourth, respectively, while senior Cassidy Santen (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove North) wrapped up the meet in the sixth spot. Bowman (14.34 meters) and Santen's (13.59 meters) tosses were both career bests and moved them into the eighth and tenth spots on DC's all-time list. 

Santen added more points to her total in the shot put, as the senior finished with a throw of 11.46 meters (37 feet, 7 inches), good enough for the fourth spot.

Freshman Meagan Trimpey had a big day, as well, for the Yellow Jackets. Trimpey competed in five events, scoring points in three of them. Her best finish came in the long jump, as her jump of 4.86 meters (15 feet, 11 inches) gave her the fifth best jump in the HCAC and seventh in DC history. Trimpey added a seventh place finish in the pole vault with a vault of 2.98 meters (9 feet, 9 inches), tied for her career-best and second on the Defiance list. 

Trimpey, along with teammates Danielle Robbins, Malia Ferry, and Mackenzie Moerhman placed in the seventh position at the HCAC Championships with a time of 1:55.13. The time was also good enough for seventh best in school history.

Freshman Olivia Fett (Defiance) paced the distance group at the Championships, as Fett placed in the sixth spot in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:31.20, as she moved herself into the seventh spot all-time at DC.

Fellow freshman Kaitlyn Hughes (Van Wert/Crestview) ran a personal-best time of 10.85 seconds and moved herself into eighth on the all-time lst at DC.

Defiance will enter postseason mode, as a few athletes will continue their indoor seasons with a return trip to Anderson on Saturday, Feb. 24 as they host the Fred Wilt Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.