Petro Wins Weight Throw Title at HCAC Indoor Championships

TERRE HAUTE, IND.- The Defiance College men's track and field team competed in the annual Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships hosted by Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. As a team, the Yellow Jackets finished eighth with 28 points. 

Highlighting the day's events was the performance of junior Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla./The Villages) in the weight throw that saw him post a winning mark of 54' 4.00".  It marked the first time a Defiance student-athlete has won the event since the 2014 HCAC Championships in which Anthony Nolfi won the title with a distance of 52' 2.75".

In addition to Petro, sophomore Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) also had a strong effort in the same event by finishing in fourth place with a throw of 50' 03.25". In addition, sophomore Andrew Fahler just missed the top-10, taking a 12th-place finish (44' 01.50").

In the running events, freshman Quenell Rutledge (Deltona, Fla./University) qualified for the finals in the 60-meter dash after posting a time of 7.12 seconds in the prelims and then bettered his time in the finals to claim fifth place overall with a time of 7.11 seconds. 

In the 200-meter dash, freshman Devonte' Cravin (Ama, La./Hahnville) had a 12th-place finish crossing the finish line in 23.82 seconds.  Joining him in the event was senior Chris Beard (Anthony, Fla./North Marion) who placed in the top-20 by finishing 18th following a time of 25.52 seconds. 

The 4x200 meter relay squad finished fifth out of ten teams with a mark of 1:36.31. The squad consisted of Cravin, Beard, senior Kenny Jones (Toledo/Bowsher) and freshman Marquis Montemoino (Orlando, Fla./East River).   

Other top finishes in the field events included an eighth-place showing by Castillo in the shot put with toss of 44' 1.50".  Also finishing in the top-20 was Petro who recorded a best throw of 39" 4.00" to claim 13th place and sophomore James Baranoski, Jr. (Bloomingdale, Mich./Bloomingdale) placed 15th with a mark of 38' 5.00".  

Rounding out the top performances for DC was Montemoino who finished eighth in the high jump with a final clearing of the bar at 5' 08.50".  

"Overall, track teams had a collection of 19 personal bests," said Head Coach Ken Ciolek. "We had huge contributions across the board, highlighted by Petro winning the men's weight throw and five women placing in the women's weight. It was an overall huge day for the kids."

The Jackets will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 to compete in the Anderson (Ind.) University Last Chance Meet in Anderson, Ind. The meet will begin at 3 p.m.