Defiance Opens Outdoor Season at Rose-Hulman
TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- The Defiance College men's track and field team opened their outdoor season at the Early Bird Invitational hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- The Defiance College men's track and field team opened their outdoor season at the Early Bird Invitational hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Yellow Jackets finished with a team score of eight points to place seventh of eight teams. Host school Rose-Hulman won the event with 272 points, followed by DePauw (Ind.) University with 111 points and Baldwin Wallace University rounded out the top three with 102 points.
The men had a limited number of competitors in the running events which included sophomore Daren Gies (Plymouth) who competed in both the 800 and 1500-meter races. In the 800-meter run, he ran a time of 2:18.33 to place 14th overall. He went on to place 16th in the 1500-meter run with a mark of 4:34.54.
Senior Zach Roush (Nashville, Ind./Brown County) ran in the 5,000-meter run and turned in a time of 17:02.95 which was good enough for 24th place.
DC had several competitors in the throwing events, including four placing in the top-20 in the hammer throw. Leading the way was sophomore Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) who took third with a best throw of 153' 4.00". Fellow sophomore Andrew Fahler (Wllington) placed 10th with a throw of 131" 5.00". Rounding out the top performances were seniors Josh Ream (Van Wert/Crestview) who placed 18th (118' 8.00") and Nick Rath (Defiance) placed 20th (113' 9.00").
In the shot put, Castillo had the best finish for the Jackets taking seventh place with a distance of 43' 6.00". Also placing in the top-20 was freshman Kaleb Tyree (Tiffin/Tiffin Columbian) who placed 15th (37' 4.00"), followed by sophomore Justin Bergquist (Cincinnati/Northwest) in 18th (37' 7.75"). Ream finished in 20th place and had a best throw of 35' 3.75".
In the discus event, Rath was the top finisher for the Jackets in 13th place following a throw of 119' 11.50". Fahler placed 19th with a mark of 106' 7.50".
"Kids competed extremely well with the smaller squad we took," said Head Coach Ken Ciolek. "We had over 14 personal bests and 6-8 times that were extremely close to being pr's."
Defiance is scheduled to compete in the Cedarville University Invitational next Saturday, Mar. 25. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in Cedarville, Ohio.