Petro Places Second in Hammer at Hanover Invite

HANOVER, IND. -- Junior Joshua Petro (Ocala, Fla./The Villages) led the Defiance College men's track & field team with a second place finish in the hammer throw at the Hanover (Ind.) College Invitational in Hanover, Ind.

As a team, the Yellow Jackets scored 16 points to place 13th of 17 teams.  Indiana Wesleyan University came out as the winner with 148 points, followed by Cedarville University in second with 130.5 points.  Thomas (Ky.) More College was third with 76.5 points.

Defiance had two individuals compete in the running events with the top overall performance coming from sophomore Daren Gies (Plymouth) who competed in the 1500-meter run and ran a time of 4:32.92 placing him 30th overall. 

Petro led the Yellow Jackets in the field events with his runner-up showing in the hammer throw following a best distance of 161' 8.00".  Petro was one of seven total DC athletes to compete in the event which had two other individuals place in the top-10 in addition to Petro, and another who placed in the top-15.

Sophomore Javier Castillo (Nogales, Ariz./Nogales) placed fifth in the hammer (155' 4.00"), followed by fellow sophomore James Baranoski, Jr. (Bloomingdale, Mich./Bloomingdale) in 10th place (146' 0.00").  In addition, sophomore Andrew Fahler (Wellington) was 12th with a toss of 140' 7.00".  

DC had four players place in the top-20 in the shot put, led by Castillo who had a best mark of 43' 3.25" which put him fifth overall.  The Yellow Jackets then took 14th, 15th and 16th places with freshman Kaleb Tyree (Tiffin/Tiffin Columbian) placing 14th (38' 9.75"), Petro was 15th (38' 7.50") and senior Nick Rath (Defiance) was 16th (38' 4.75").

Rath went on to also compete in the discus and turned in the best mark for the Jackets of 122' 6.00" and placed 10th overall to lead seven other DC athletes in the event. 

Defiance also had a pair of competitors in the javelin with the top finisher being Rath who recorded a toss of 108' 8.00" to finish 20th overall.  Fahler placed just behind Rath in 21st position with an effort of 108' 6.00".

"We ended the day with 16 personal bests, and an event champion," said Head Coach Ken Ciolek.  "We had to battle through another day of cold and wet conditions, but we were still able to put together some very strong performances."

The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to compete at the Huntington (Ind.) University Invitational next Saturday, Apr. 8 in Huntington, Ind.  The meet is scheduled to begin at noon.