Marshall leads men’s track & field to 6th-place finish at HCAC Outdoor Championship

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - After a slow start on the first day of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Friday, the Defiance College men's track team had an impressive outing on Saturday, winning two events and finishing 6th out of 10 teams with 54 points.

The hosts Rose-Hulman won the event with 210.50 points followed by Manchester (161) and Transylvania (79.50).

"We had some good performances today despite a small crew. I'm really happy with this crew with all the obstacles we have faced this year.," said Defiance head coach Nathan Christianson. "The last two weeks have been extremely difficult with a lot of challenges.  Our team united together despite everything we have faced as a team."

Tawon Cannon and Robert Marshall each claimed event titles on Saturday. Cannon won the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time 57.10. Marshall, who placed second in the 200-meters at the HCAC Indoor Championship, took home the gold medal after clocking in with a time of 22.11. Both times are top-10 in program history.

"Robert had a very big day for us getting second in the 100 and getting 2nd in the 200.  The 200 was a very heated contest and had to go to a photo finish," said Christianson. "Tawon picked up a victory for us in the 400 hurdles despite battling some injuries the last few weeks.  He was also the anchor on our. 4 x 100 that got second. Both of these men will get a chance to compete in two weeks at a last chance meet."   

Cannon and Marshall were also members of the 4x100 relay team that finished second with a time of 43.39, another top-10 mark. Also on the relay team were Gashawn Moody and Alijah Fleming.

The Yellow Jackets also had two more athletes reach the podium thanks to third-place finishes by Ja'qway Janvier and John Reese. Janvier finished third in the 100-meters with a time of 11.10 while Reese placed third in the high jump with a mark of 1.80m.

" John stepped up big for us in the high jump. I was really proud of him coming back after not making finals in the long jump," said Christianson. "He could have easily had given up and he bounced back and got some big team points for us."

Also earning points for the Purple and Gold were Joshua Gaffney and Tyrel Goings. Gaffney placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.93 and Goings placed sixth with a throw of 12.81m in the shot put. Both marks are new personal bests.

"Tyrel had a big day in the shot put and he has gotten better each week.  He's going to  be a major contributor for us in the throwing events for us next season." Christianson said.

Christianson also wanted to acknowledge the performance and leadership of the program's lone senior Kaleb Tyree, saying "Kaleb finished his senior season strong and I really want to thank him for finishing his career with us. For a very young and building program he stepped into a leadership role for us." Tyree placed 15th in the shot put (10.83), 19th in the hammer throw (30.58m), and 20th in the discus (29.34m).

"The men fought hard despite not being 100 percent.   In a league that is close from 3-10 each conference championship, you have several teams ready to pass you if you aren't full strength.  As always the men's team race was back and forth and it was fun to be in the mix." Christianson said. 

Defiance will take some time off before returning to action at the Toledo Last Chance Qualifier on May 15.