DC Women's Cross Country Places Three on HCAC Watch List

GREENWOOD, IND. -- The Defiance College women's cross country team placed three runners on the "HCAC Runners to Watch" list when the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference released their preseason poll on Wednesday.

Senior Aaron Textor (Swanton) leads the group as the lone returnee from the 2016 season. She was the top runner for the Yellow Jackets in 2016, setting a personal best five-kilometer time of 21:04.2 at the Wilmington Invitational, while she finished the six-kilometer All-Ohio Championship with a top time of 25:55.2.

Joining Textor on the preseason watch list is junior transfer Olivia Fett (Defiance) and freshman Kenna Bell (Piqua). 

DC was picked to finish ninth overall in the HCAC by the coaches on the preseason poll, picked just ahead of Mount St. Joseph. Manchester was picked by eight of the ten coaches at the top of the conference with 98 points, while Bluffton garnered the other two top votes. Hanover, Rose-Hulman, and Earlham were slotted to round out the top five.

The gun will go off to start the 2017 season for the Yellow Jackets on Friday, Sept. 1 as they take the short trip to Bluffton University for the annual "Back to the Nature Preserve Invitational. The women's five-kilometer race will begin at 6 p.m.