Janvier leads Yellow Jackets at John Hartpence Invitational

DEFIANCE, Ohio - Three first-place finishes from Ja'qway Janvier set the tone for an impressive outing by the Defiance College track and field teams at the John Hartpence Invitational on Friday evening. Janvier ran the third-fastest time in school history in the 60-meters, clocking in at 6.96 seconds in the finals to win the event. He followed up this record performance by win the 200-meters with a time of 23.48 seconds and also placing first in the long jump with a distance of 5.93m.

Gabriel Melvin placed second in the 60-meters with a personal best time of 7.02 seconds. Robert Marshall rounded out the top three with a time of 7.14 seconds. Janvier is the first Yellow Jacket to break the seven-second mark in the 60 since record holder Darius Spinks did it thrice in 2015. His time is also tied for the seventh-fasted in NCAA Division III this season and the fastest in the HCAC.

"The trio of Ja'qway, Gabe, and Robert killed it today in the 60 and the whole meet. The 60 was a great start to the meet." said Defiance head coach Nathan Christianson.

Alijah Fleming (7.42), Brandon Hayes Jr. (7.49), and Gashawn Moody (7.58) also improved their personal best times in the race.

Marshall also took second place in the 200-meters with a personal best time of 23.61 seconds while this time Melvin placed third. Carlens Elisias (24.55), Hayes Jr. (24.81), Moody (25.01), and Connor Bujalski (25.75) each also set a personal best in the event.

Destiny Oshodin and Shi'Nique Lawrence each set personal bests in two events. Oshodin improved her times in the 60-meters (9.13) and 200-meters (32.41) while Lawrence completed the 60-meter hurdles in 11.86 seconds and has a mark of 1.35m in the high jump.

Deleita Powell also set a new best in the 60 with a time of 9.06 seconds while Katelyn Smith improved her 800-meter time to 2:43.50.

"The ladies continue to compete really hard. Despite our numbers, every single lady gives it their all every race. I'm proud of every single lady today." remarked Christianson. "If we take this same mentality we can still beat a few teams at conference with this attitude despite our numbers."

Christianson specifically pointed out the performance of Smith, who has improved in every meet this season. "Kaitlyn continues to drop time every week in the 800. I'm excited to see what she can do next week. She gets stronger each week and is starting to throw herself in races as her fitness continues to get stronger."

Tawon Cannon and V'Sean Palmer placed second and third in the long jump with marks of 5.72m and 5.70m, both new personal bests. Cannon also sets personal bests in the 400-meters (54.84) and the 60-meter hurdles (10.01). A 4x400 meter relay team made up of Cannon, Marshall, Janvier, and John Reese also took first place with a time of 3:51.12.

"On the guy's side, our 4 x 400 was a good finish. The overall time was not the fastest but this year it has been about competing. Normally meets are a lot longer and you have more time to recover. In these short meets, it makes it really hard to come back and run fast times. But Tawon and Reese came back and ran really impressive races for us. Tawon is starting to return to his old self. " said Christianson. "John is going to become a big contributor for us at conf and Tawon is starting to get in shape.  He's going to be a major contributor for us at the conference championship.  But once he gets in better shape he's going to be very tough in the outdoor season."

Ron Scott again improved his distance in the shot put and weight throw with marks of 10.78m and 7.74 meters. His throw in the shot put was good for third place.

"Rontonio Scott is starting to become a factor as well and he may do some things next week at the conference meet as well in the shot put." said Christianson. Like Smith and many of his Yellow Jacket teammates, Scott has continued to improve each week.   

Both Defiance teams will compete next weekend at the Heartland Collegiate Atheltic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship in Terre Haute, Ind.

"We were really proud of everyone today," said Christianson."We are excited to see what we can do at conference on both sides. It's going to be a fun meet and we have a few that can mix it up for conference titles which is a great feeling. The help and support from the DC family has been absolutely amazing.  It will be nice to have a week off from hosting but we will be ready again for the 26th!"