Yellow Jackets Compete At Spartan Classic

N. MANCHESTER, IND. – The Defiance College men's track and field team traveled to N. Manchester, Ind. to compete at Manchester (Ind.) University in the Spartan Classic and finished with a team score of 42, placing seventh overall.

Defiance was led by a strong showing from the Yellow Jacket throwers. Senior Jacob Rodriguez (Ligonier, Ind. /West Noble) finished second in the hammer throw with a distance of 155' 2". Sophomore Joseph Carpenter (Rootstown/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished fifth with a distance of 131' 11". Freshman Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla. /The Villages) tossed the hammer a distance of 126' 02" for a seventh place finish. Fellow freshmen Shawn Deese (Canton, Mich. /Canton) and Evan Troupe (Defiance) finished close behind with distances of 122' 00" and 111' 6', respectively.

In the shot put, Deese was the top finisher for the Yellow Jackets with a throw of 40' 05" for a sixth place finish. Sophomore Zach Kasper (Wyandotte, Mich. /Roosevelt) finished one spot behind Deese with a distance of 40" 01' and Petro finished in ninth after throwing a distance of 39" 07".

Petro also competed in the discus event and launched the discus a distance of 126" 03' which was good for a sixth place finish.

Freshman Aaron Schwarzbek (Sherwood/Fairview) took home a second place finish, after crossing the line in 17.56 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles event.

Sophomore Jacob Rindler (St. Henry) rounded out the top-ten finishes for the Purple and Gold. Rindler finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.38.

The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Monday, Apr. 6 when they host the Dick Small Invitational at the Justin F. Coressel Stadium. The meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.