Yellow Jackets Host HCAC Athletic Conference Meet

DEFIANCE, OHIO- The Defiance College Track & Field teams hosted the men's and women's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championship meet at the George M. Smart Center and the men placed eighth with a score of 24.33 points.

In the distance medley finals, the Jackets placed third overall with a combined time of 11:01.91. Members of the relay included junior Clayton Bruggeman (St. Henry), senior Courtney Lyn-Kew (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach), junior Jacob Rindler (St. Henry), and junior Colin Krick (Hicksville/Antwerp Local). 

Bruggeman also competed in the men's one-mile run and crossed the finish line in ninth place with a time of 4:44.21.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Defiance had two members finish in the top 13. Sophomore Aaron Schwarzbek (Sherwood/Fairview) placed ninth with a time of 9.16 seconds and sophomore Dalton Bettis (Minerva/Robert G. Cole) placed 12th with a mark of 9.53 seconds. 

Junior Andy Foore (Swanton) placed 17th overall in the 60-meter dash and crossed the finish line in 7.51 seconds. In addition, Foore placed 16th in the 200-meter dash and finished with a time of 24.78 seconds. 

Freshman DeAundre Butler (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota) placed 20th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.58 seconds. Butler also competed in two other events that included the 200-meter dash and placed 18th (25.68 seconds) as well as the long jump event and leaped 18' 8.50" which was good enough for 11th place. 

In the men's 800-meter run, the Jackets were led by Rindler who placed 15th overall with a time of 2:12.39 and freshman Daren Gies (Plymouth) who placed 17th with a time of 2:16.57.

Krick placed 17th overall in the men's 3000-meter run with a time of 9:43.06. Rounding out the running events was a sixth-place showing in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:42.49. Team members included Lyn-Kew, Rindler, John Seeley, and Schwarzbek. 

Junior Zachary Kasper (Wyandotte/Roosevelt) placed eighth in the shot put finals with a toss of 43' 1.75". Freshman James Baranoski Jr. (Bloomingdale, Mich./Bloomingdale) placed 15th and had a toss of 40' 3.25". 

The Jackets had a top-three finalist in the weight throw in sophomore Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla./The Villages). Petro had a best throw of 50' 1.75". Other top finishers were freshman Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) who finished in 11th place with a toss of 44' 9.75", and Kasper who turned in a distance of 44' 5.25" to place 13th overall. 

Schwarzbek landed in a three-way tie for second in the high-jump finals with a jump of 6' 3.25" to complete the list of top finishers for the Yellow Jacket men.

Defiance will travel to Anderson, Ind. next Saturday (Feb. 27) to compete in the Anderson (Ind.) University Fred Wilt Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.