Jackets Sending Ten to the All-Ohio Indoor Championships

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Austin Trivett and Amanda Tooley headline a talented group of Defiance College athletes that will be participating in the 2009 All-Ohio Indoor Championships this coming Saturday, February 14. The Jackets will send ten individuals to the meet for the second-straight year.

Trivett and Tooley are the lone DC athletes to compete in multiple events at the meet. Trivett, the reigning HCAC Freshman of the Year, cleared 14-01.25 at the Findlay Invitational on January 31 to qualify third in the pole vault, while also making the cut in the high jump. Tooley will be making her first appearance at the indoor championships, qualifying fifth in the weight throw and eighth in the shot put.

Brad Zarembski, a 2007 All-American, joins Trivett in the high jump, an event that Defiance has dominated the past few years. The Jackets have claimed the high jump title at each of the past three All-Ohio Championships with Zarembski claiming two outdoor crowns and former DC student-athlete Eric Swartz taking top honors a year ago at the indoor championships.

The sprint tandem of Ryan Perry and Blake Witherspoon have given the Jackets one of the best one-two punches in the conference and will enter the meet tied for sixth in the 55m dash. The two are at the top of the HCAC ranks in the event, having each run a time of 6.60.

Juniors Laura Derov, Samantha Higdon and Jessica Lipstraw will join Tooley in the throwing events, after earning All-Ohio honors in 2008. Higdon, who finished second in the weight throw last February, had a toss of 45-08.00 to tie Tooley at the Taylor Invitational, while Lipstraw is ranked seventh in the event with a throw of 45-03.00. Derov qualified tenth in the shot put with a toss of 37-04.50 at the Findlay Invitational and will be looking to improve on her sixth-place finish in the event last season.

Sprinters Kristin Goldstein and Marlea Rolander will also compete, rounding out the qualifiers for the DC women's squad. Goldstein earned a berth in the 55m dash , running a time of 7.71 at the Taylor Invitational last Saturday, February 7. Rolander is ranked 11th in the 55m hurdles, running a converted time of 9.18 at the Findlay Invitational.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan in Westerville, Ohio.