Armstrong leads the pack after day one of WHAC Championship
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Day one of the 2025 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship on Friday featured five Yellow Jacket athletes competing in six events, one of which reached a new personal best.
The meet, hosted by Indiana Tech at the Doug Edgar Indoor Track Facility, will resume Saturday afternoon, and wraps up Defiance College's indoor season, and the inaugural as a member of the WHAC.
In the men's weight throw, freshman Cole Armstrong launched the lead ball 11.62 meters, beating his previous best by over a meter. This distance set him up in 26th place overall. Armstrong set his previous high at the Ashland Invitational back on Jan. 25 in only his second collegiate competition, which was measured at 10.53 meters. David Heidelburg, who also competed in the men's weight throw, finished 22nd with a distance of 12.36 meters — just .22 shy of achieving his own new personal best.
Lynsey Pease was the sole competitor for Defiance in women's shot put and threw for 8.30 meters. Pease's distance settled her into 26th place overall.
The duo of Armstrong and Heidelburg additionally competed in men's shot put. Last week at the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open, Heidelburg achieved a personal record of 11.36 meters. On Friday, his toss went for 10.86 meters and he finished the event in 28th. Armstrong's greatest distance on the day was 10.03 and he ended in 31st.
Similar to Pease, Amira Knight entered into the women's long jump event, coming out in 16th with her jump going 4.38 meters.
In the final women's event of the day, Amanda Barnes took on the weight throw with a distance of 9.26 meters, finishing in the 29th spot.
Jake Stephens was the only Yellow Jacket who competed in a running event on Friday – the 5000-meter run – however, the junior did not finish.
Finally, Marcus Snell took a 17th-place finish in the men's 60-meter dash prelims with a time of 7.35. The finals for the events are set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
With no podium finishes, Defiance currently sits scoreless on the leaderboard, though only eight of the 13 WHAC schools are featured after day one.
UP NEXT
Day two of the conference championship will commence on Saturday, rounding out the remainder of running events with the men's and women's 400-meter and 800-meter dashes, the women's 200-meter dash, and both the women's and men's 4x400 relays. Competition will begin at 1 p.m.
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