Postema, Davis Pace DC to Third at HCAC Championships

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Yellow Jacket men's track and field team members Tom Postema and Joe Davis each recorded a pair of first-place finishes and set one conference record at the 2013 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, February 16. Defiance also was able to set three new school records on the day. [Results]

Senior Tom Postema came out of the gates strong and hurled the second-longest weight throw toss in National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. III history. The Defiance, Ohio, native registered an HCAC Championship and DC record distance of 20.72 meters and currently sits at first in all of Div. III and tied for 11th in all divisions. Postema continued his dominant afternoon with a first-place shot put distance of 15.61 meters.

For the junior distance runner from Ontario, Ohio, Joe Davis grabbed first place in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. Davis came away with a new HCAC Championship record time in the 3,000 by clocking in an 8:58.32. He then crossed the finish line first in 15:23.41 for the 5,000-meter run, which was a new Defiance record by seven seconds.

Running right with Davis in both events was senior Hayden Krick. The four-year veteran runner took second and finished less than two seconds behind Davis in the 5,000 (15:25.15) and would have also broken the school record. In the 3,000-meter run, Krick managed a fifth-place time of 9:11.85.

On to other field-event action, senior Dan Hardin-Wallace was a mere .03 meters shy of placing first in the pole vault. The Toledo, Ohio, native did however set a new school record height of 4.70 meters in the event. 

Then for the Yellow Jacket throwers, juniors Anthony Nolfi and Luiyi Nunez both had career days. Nolfi came away with a fourth-place toss of 15.21 meters in the weight throw and a fifth-place distance of 13.47 in the shot put, both personal records. Nunez notched his career best mark in the shot put with a sixth-place hurl of 13.45 meters.

Lastly, DC had a strong showing from its sprints and mid-distance runners. Stud sophomore Troy Parrett literally ran away with the 800-meter run by crossing the finish line first at 1:57.44. Following in second right behind him was junior Madison Murphy with a time of 1:59.21.

The two runners also teamed up with junior Adam Grillot and sophomore Ryan Johnston for the 4x400-meter relay and took home third with a mark of 3:28.54.

For overall team standings, Rose-Hulman came away as the HCAC champions with a score of 206.5 points. Coming in second was Franklin with 118, followed closely by Defiance who accounted for 113.5 points and third-place.

The Purple and Gold track and field team will return to action on March 1 when it competes at the Last Chance Meet and try to make qualifying marks for the Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championships the following week. The Last Chance Meet time and location are soon to be determined.