Rutledge Leads Defiance Men at DC Invitational

DEFIANCE, OHIO -- The Defiance College men's track & field team finished seventh in the Defiance College Invitational held at the George M. Smart Center.

Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets in the running events was freshman Quenell Rutledge (Deltona, Fla./University) in the 60-meter dash.  Rutledge placed third overall in the preliminaries and then followed that effort in the finals where he also crossed the finish line in third with a mark of 7.18 seconds.

Senior Zach Roush (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) posted a top-10 time in the 3000-meter run, finishing with a time of 11:00.88. 

In the men's 800-meter run, sophomore Daren Gies (Plymouth) placed in the top-20 with a 19th-place showing with a mark of 2:20.09.   

In the field events, sophomore Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) posted the top overall finish with a fourth-place effort in the shot put after recording a best throw of 44' 1.50". In addition to Castillo, five other Jackets competed in the event and placed in the top-20.  Junior Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla./The Villages) was fifth with a throw of 42' 10.75". Senior Josh Ream (Van Wert/Crestview) took seventh place (40' 8.75"), senior Nick Rath (Defiance) was eighth (40' 1.25") and freshman Kaleb Tyree (Tiffin/Tiffin Columbian) finished 15th (37' 3.25"). Rounding out the performances was sophomore Justin Bergquist (Cincinnati/Northwest) who took 16th place overall (36' 9.00").

In the weight throw, Castillo finished fifth overall with a throw of 51' 1.00". Joining him in the top-20 was Petro who finished in sixth place with a throw of 49' 11.00". Sophomore Andrew Fahler (Wellington) took 11th place with a toss of 41' 10.00" and Rath finished in 12th place at 40' 6.00". In addition, Ream placed 13th overall with a best mark of 40' 0.75". 

Other top performances in the field events included freshman Kendrick Harvey (Clearwater) who finished 17th in the long jump with a distance of 17' 1.50". Fellow freshman Marquis Montemoino (Orlando, Fla./East River) also competed in the long jump and claimed 19th place following a final launch of 15' 10.50". 

The DC men's track team returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 4) when it travels to Ada, Ohio to compete in the Ohio Northern University Invitational. The meet begins with the field events at 11 a.m.  The track events are scheduled to start at noon.