Castillo Takes Fourth in Shot Put at HCAC Championships

ANDERSON, IND. -- The Defiance College men's track and field team competed in day two of the HCAC Championships. Due to weather conditions, the final two events will be completed on Wednesday, May 3.

After all but the final two events, the Yellow Jackets hold an eighth place finish overall out of 10 teams with 13 points. Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology holds first place in the team rankings with 231.5 points. 

For the throwing events, sophomore Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) duplicated his fourth-place showing in the discus yesterday with another fourth-place effort, this time in the shot put for the best finish of the day. He had a best throw of 44' 10.75". Also competing in the event and placing in the top-10, was sophomore teammate James Baranoski, Jr. (Bloomingdale, Mich./Bloomingdale) who placed seventh at a distance of 44' 00.75".

In addition, senior Nick Rath (Defiance) and sophomore Justin Bergquist (Cincinnati/Northwest) both placed in the top-20 with Rath finishing 16th (40' 4.75") and Bergquist was 19th (39' 5.25"). 

The Jackets had two throwers place in the top-20 in the hammer throw led by sophomore Andrew Fahler (Wellington) who placed eighth with a best throw of 145' 5.75". Castillo finished in 11th place following a throw of 140' 7.50". 

In the running events, sophomore Daren Gies (Plymouth) competed in the 1500-meter run and placed 11th overall. He ran in a time of 4:31.46. 

Senior Zach Roush (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) ran the 5000-meter run in 16:56.40. He earned a 19th place finish. 

The Jackets will return to competition as a team on Saturday, May 13 in Naperville, Ill. They will compete in the North Central Gregory Invitational at 11:45 a.m.