Yellow Jackets selected to finish sixth

GREENWOOD, Ind. – After a fifth place finish last season in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference finals, Defiance College dropped to a sixth place Preseason Selection by the HCAC.

Five time defending champion Manchester was selected second just two points around Rose-Hulman.

DC will have to replace a lot of departing talent from last year's squad.  A mixture of senior leadership and youth looks to start the Yellow Jackets off on the right foot in the 2014 season.

Andrew Senecal (North Baltimore, Ohio / North Baltimore) was the lone senior selected to the HCAC Preseason Runners to Watch list for the Yellow Jackets.  Senecal saw his best finish in the Otterbein Invite last year.  He finished with a 28:52.1 which was the fourth best time for DC during that meet.

A pair of talented sophomores in Calyton Bruggeman (St. Henry, Ohio / St. Henry) and Zach Roush (Nashville, Ind. / Brown County) were also named to the HCAC Preseason Runners to Watch list.

Bruggeman returns to the Yellow Jackets with the most DC top five finishes from last season.  Of the seven races that he participated in, DC used his finish for its final score six times.  Bruggeman saved his best performance last season for last.  He finished with a 27:49.3 at the NCAA Regionals.

Roush had a solid year last year for the Yellow Jackets as well.  He came in around the 30 minute mark consistently for DC throughout the season.  He saw his best finish at the Calvin Pre-Regional with a time of 29:57.2.

DC begins its season this Friday, August 29 at the Manchester Hokum Karem.  Race time is set to begin at 5:30 pm.