DC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Picked to Place Second

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Two years of Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference indoor track and field competition in the books has led to a pair of second-place finishes for the Yellow Jackets men's track and field squad. For 2013, the conference believes history will repeat itself and has chosen DC for a third-straight runner-up finish. [Release]

In 2011, the HCAC hosted the first indoor track and field conference championships, in which Rose-Hulman grabbed the top spot with 241 points and DC was number two with 100. Then in 2012, the Purple and Gold added a few points to its previous score to finish with 112.50. But the Fightin' Engineers once again dominated the competition with 262 points and first place, leaving the Jackets runner-up for a second straight season.

However, the Defiance men's track and field teams has its eye on the prize for the 2013 campaign and with a bevy of top returning athletes, hopes to knock off Rose and gain its first-ever HCAC Indoor Championship crown.

On the HCAC Preseason Athletes-to-Watch List, DC tied for second-most with five athletes. Leading the way for the Jackets, and the anchor to the track and field squad, is senior thrower Tom Postema. The reigning HCAC indoor champion in the shot put and weight throw, as well as the outdoor champion in the hammer throw and discus, will have high expectations to live up to, after his amazing success in his first year with the Purple and Gold.

Other seniors notching spots on the list were distance runner Hayden Krick and decathlete Dan Hardin-Wallace. Krick, an Antwerp, Ohio, native, will look to build off a strong cross country season, while Hardin-Wallace comes off a 2012 year, in which he set DC records in the pole-vault and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team.

Filling out the last two spots on the watch list are junior Joe Davis and sophomore Troy Parrett. Davis competes in the distance events and had a spectacular sophomore campaign. The Ontario High product was able to chalk up four new school records over both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Parrett on the other hand, focuses on the middle-distance events. The sophomore from 
Cedarville, Ohio, turned some heads in his rookie season by setting multiple Defiance all-time marks, as well as being the HCAC champion in the outdoor 800-meter run.

The Yellow Jackets will be in action tomorrow January 18 for their first meet of 2013 when they travel to Findlay for the Northwestern Ohio Invitational. The meet will kick off at 2:30 p.m.