DC Puts Seven on All-HCAC List

GREENWOOD, IND. -- The Defiance College track and field team had seven athletes honored on the 2018 All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field team on Wednesday.

DC put three athletes on the list for first team All-HCAC honors. Senior Brooke Waidelich (Pettisville) won the HCAC title in the weight throw on Saturday with a career-best throw of 15.39 meters (50 feet, 6 inches). Waidelich now sits in a second-place tie on the all-time DC performance list as she looks to improve in the next couple of last chance meets. 

Senior thrower Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla./The Villages) earned his second straight HCAC title in the men's weight throw on Saturday with his throw of 16.85 meters (55 feet, 3 inches). Petro's best throw of the year, 17.85 meters, has him sitting in the 17th spot on the NCAA Div. III National list and third all-time at DC, as he has two meets to jump into contention to make the Div. III NCAA National Championship meet in March. Petro also jumped into ninth on the all-time DC performance list in the shot put with a best throw of 13.56 meters.

The third first team All-HCAC honoree for the Yellow Jackets is freshman Vince Jackson (Mason). In his first HCAC Championship meet, Jackson finished first in the high jump competition. Jackson's jump of 1.97 meters (6 feet, 5.5 inches) was good enough to knock off the rest of the competition. His best mark of the season came at the Defiance College Invitational, where his jump of 1.98 meters put him within 0.1 meters from a spot at the Div. III National meet, as well as put him into the fourth spot on the DC all-time list. Jackson also worked his way into the top 10 list this season in the long jump competition with a jump of 6.32 meters, the 10th best in school history.

Junior Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz.) earned second-team All-HCAC honors for his runner-up finish at the HCAC meet on Saturday. Castillo's throw of 16.65 meters (54 feet, 8 inches) was a personal-best that moved him into the fourth spot in the Defiance College record books, as well as into the top 50 on the Div. III national list. The junior also put himself on the podium in the shot put with a third place finish and a throw of 14.56 meters (47 feet, 9 inches). The toss was also a personal best and moved him into the 10th best mark in school history.

Sophomore Madi Bowman (Eaton) earned a podium finish in the women's weight throw, placing in the third position to earn honorable mention All-HCAC honors. Bowman's throw of 14.34 meters (47 feet) also moved her onto DC's all-time top 10, moving her into the eighth spot.

A pair of freshmen also earned spots on the HCAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Distance runner Megan Ortiz (Swanton) and sprinter Cody Drumm-Turner (Homer, Mich.) earned the honors for DC.

Defiance track and field will continue to fight for career bests and national qualifiers, as they take five athletes to the Fred Wilt Invitational at Anderson University this Saturday afternoon. The meet is set to begin at 3 p.m.