Lady Jackets Take Fourth at HCAC Indoor Championships

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College women's track and field team could not catch a break at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, February 16. The team came away with a total of seven second-place finishes at the meet, and missed first in the pole vault due to more scratches and a .02 differential in the 200-meter dash.

Accumulating four individual finishes in second and one in a relay was DC junior Kali George. First for her field events, the East Palestine, Ohio, native cleared 1.60 meters in the high jump and notched a length of 5.34 meters in the long jump. Her distance in the long jump was good for second all-time for the Purple and Gold and a personal best.

On the track, the junior took number-two spot in the 200-meter dash (26.86) and the 400 (59.59). The 200 race was a thriller, as George lost out on first by a nose (.02). However she did come away with a personal record and her time was the second best in school history. She then joined Ericha Griep, Brooke Lime and Katie Heitkamp in the 4x400-meter relay and grabbed another second-place finish.

The foursome put together a time of 4:15.59 that was just over one and a half seconds behind first place and the second-fastest time for the season. Of the other runners on the relay team, each had strong days on the afternoon as well.

Senior Katie Heitkamp was able to set a new Yellow Jacket record in the pole vault. The Memorial High product bested her old school record with a second-place height of 3.20 meters. Heitkamp also came away with a career best 400-meter dash time of 1:01.96 that put her in fifth place.

Another Defiance record fell in the 60-meter hurdles, as sophomore Brooke Lime clocked a second-place time of 9.31. The second-year runner was able to shave .09 seconds off the record she set last season.

For junior Ericha Griep, she racked up a pair of sixth-place marks in each of the 800 (2:32.56) and one-mile run (5:46.07) events with the latter being a personal record.

Other individuals making marks for DC included senior Kate Borer and freshmen Brittany Wildman and Waverly Weaks. Borer took seventh in both the triple jump (9.61 meters) and pole vault (2.60). Wildman notched fourth in the pole vault with a height of 2.75 meters and Weaks registered fifth in the long jump (4.81 meters).

For overall team standings, Hanover College came away as the HCAC champions with a score of 166 points. Coming in second was Rose with 116, followed by Franklin at 110. Defiance accounted for 86 points and a fourth-place finish.

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.