Yellow Jackets Lead First Day of HCAC Championships

FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Defiance College men's track and field team featured three individual champions as the team sits at the top of the standings after the first day of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. [Results]

Senior Justin Perkins, junior Tom Postema and freshman Reggie Neal all grabbed All-HCAC honors by winning events.

Perkins, the 2010 steeplechase champion, reclaimed his title in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a winning mark of 9:27.12. He beat his nearest competitor by five seconds en route to the win. Postema was first in the hammer throw, an event title he claimed during the indoor season, with a throw of 179-05. Postema was also second in the shot put at 50-00.75.

Neal won the triple jump with a leap of 46-02.00 to earn outdoor All-HCAC honors for the first time in his career. The mark also set a new Defiance College record in the triple jump. Neal bested the previous mark of 45-08.00 held by Ed Turner.

The Yellow Jackets scored points in the pole vault as junior Dan Hardin-Wallace was second with a mark of 15-05.00 and freshman Ryan Johnston was seventh at 13-05.25. Senior Josh Beaverson added a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw with a distance of 156-04, and also picked up points with an eighth-place result in the shot put at 41-04.25. Sophomore Jacob Arnold was eighth in the hammer with a throw of 130-04, and senior Aaron Fraley finished seventh in the 3000-meter steeplechase at 10:15.51.

Junior Hayden Krick finished the 10,000-meter run in 32:54.05 to take fourth in the race. The day also featured strong performances in the preliminaries for Defiance. Freshman Troy Parrett was first in the 800-meter run preliminary with a time of 1:57.28, while junior Joe Davis was close behind in fourth at 1:57.52.

The second day of the HCAC Championships will start at 10:00 am on Saturday. DC will attempt to stay atop the leaderboard and claim the HCAC title.