Men’s Track and Field Picked Second in Preseason Poll

GREENWOOD, Ind. – The Defiance College men's track and field team was tabbed to finish second in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll with 87 points. DC placed five on the HCAC Athletes-to-Watch list. [Release]

Rose-Hulman was unanimously picked to defend its HCAC Championship title with 100 points, while Manchester (78), Franklin (71), Anderson (64), Earlham (48), Hanover (40), Mount St. Joseph (32), Transylvania (18) and Bluffton (12) filled out the rest of the poll.

HCAC Field Athlete of the Year, Tom Postema, highlights the group of Athletes to Watch. Also named to the list are Dan Hardin-Wallace, Justin Perkins, Aaron Demecs, and Reggie Neal.

Postema took home two 12^th-place finishes in the shot put and weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The junior from Defiance, Ohio currently holds Defiance College and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships records for the weight throw and shot put.

Hardin-Wallace is the current Defiance College record holder in the pole vault and is part of the DC record-breaking 4x400 relay team. He received Honorable Mention All-HCAC in the indoor season with a second place finish in the pole vault and a third place finish in the 60-meter dash.

Perkins set the Defiance College records in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs during the indoor season. He is a former HCAC Steeplechase Champion and has been named All-Ohio during his DC career.

Demecs is part of the record-holding 4x400 relay squad, and helped break the 4x200 relay record in 2010. He is a former indoor All-Ohio selection for the Yellow Jackets.

Neal enters his first outdoor season with Defiance after putting his name in the record books during the indoor campaign. Neal was the HCAC Indoor Champion in the triple jump and holds the DC record for the event. The freshman in an All-HCAC performer and was named All-Ohio in the triple jump.

The Jackets will begin the 2012 outdoor track and field season at home, when they host the annual Dick Small Invitational at Coressel Stadium on Saturday, March 24. The meet is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.