Men’s Track and Field Picked Second in HCAC Preseason Poll

GREENWOOD, Ind. – The Defiance College men's indoor track and field team was picked to finish second in the inaugural Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, released by the league office on Tuesday. Defiance also had five athletes selected as HCAC Preseason Athletes-to-Watch. [Release]

Rose-Hulman was picked as the unanimous front runner to claim the first-ever indoor championship, garnering the maximum 100 points and all 10 first-place votes. Defiance received the second-highest total with 82 points, followed by Franklin (80), Manchester (74), Anderson (59), and Hanover (48). Mount St. Joseph (39), Earlham (32), Transylvania (19), and Bluffton (17) rounded out the 7-10 spots.

The Yellow Jackets return all but one athlete from last season's squad, which placed third in the 2010 HCAC Outdoor Championships. Seniors Austin Trivett, Ryan Perry and Seth Bidlack headline DC's core of HCAC Athletes-to-Watch, along with junior steeplechase specialist, Justin Perkins, and sophomore sprinter, Aaron Demecs.

Trivett will look to defend his title as the HCAC's pole vaulting champion, and has the potential to compete for an individual title in several jumping and hurdling events as well. The Defiance High School product was an Indoor All-Ohio and Outdoor All-Ohio performer last season, and personally accounted for 36 of the Yellow Jackets' 116 points at the HCAC Outdoor Championships last season.

Perry excels in the short-distance sprints of the indoor season, evidenced by his school record-breaking performance in the 60-meter dash last season, when he became the first athlete in Defiance College history to run the 60-meter dash in less than seven seconds. Perry finished fifth in the conference in the 100-meter dash last season, and was the anchor leg for DC's 4x100-meter relay team, which placed third at the HCAC Outdoor Championships.

Bidlack is the HCAC's reining outdoor 800-meter dash champion, and will look to transfer his outdoor success into the indoor season. The senior runner is currently ranked second in school history in the indoor 800-meter dash, and needs to shave less than three seconds off his personal record to claim the all-time title.

Perkins is coming off an all-conference cross country season, and will be looked upon to pace DC's distance runners after setting school records in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run last season. The junior runner was just three seconds off the 3,000-meter steeplechase title last season, and will enter this season as the favorite to claim the crown.

Demecs broke DC's indoor 400-meter dash record as a freshman last season, and earned Indoor All-Ohio honors in both the 4x400 meter relay and 400-meter dash. The Defiance, Ohio native went on to break DC's outdoor 400-meter dash record as well, and played a pivotal role on the Yellow Jackets' 4x400 and 4x100-meter relay teams, which placed second and third at the HCAC Outdoor Championships respectively.

The 2011 indoor season will kickoff this Friday, January 21, at the Northwest Ohio Invitational in Findlay, Ohio. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.