Melvin wins 60m, Men's Track finishes third at HCAC Championship

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Despite being picked last in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches polls, the Defiance College men's track and field team placed third at the HCAC Championship in Terre Haute, Ind. on Sunday afternoon with a total of 66 points. This is the team's highest finish since 2015 when they placed fourth. Gabriel Melvin won the 60-meters with a time of 6.98 seconds followed closely by teammate Ja'qway Janvier who placed second with a time of 7.02 seconds. Robert Marshall finished second in the 200-meters with a time of 23.07 seconds, a personal best, while Janvier returned to the podium with a third-place finish in the event.

I can't explain how extremely proud I am of these young men! The last year has been extremely difficult, and we have fought through every obstacle thrown our way. We went from ninth a year ago with five guys competing to 20 plus guys on the roster and getting third." said Defiance head coach Nathan Christianson on his team's performance. "I told the guys all week we could get third and some of them looked at me like I was crazy. As the week progressed everyone started believing and we did what we thought we could."

Melvin's time in the 60 makes him the fourth runner in school history to clock a time under seven seconds, joining Darius Spinks, Ryan Perry, and Janvier, who accomplished the feat last week. His time is tied with Spinks for the fourth-fastest in program history and makes him the third-fastest 60-meter runner behind Spinks and Janvier. He is also the first DC athlete to win an event at the conference championship since Vince Jackson won the high jump in 2018.

Marshall got off to a quick start in his section of the 200-meters and led from wire-to-wire despite Janvier pulling close to him towards the end. Melvin also earned points for Defiance with a seventh-place finish. In addition to his fantastic run in the 200, Marshall finished fifth in the 60-meters. Janvier also earned a point for the squad with an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

"We knew the 60 and 200 were going to be our strong points and we had to nickel-and-dime the rest of our points. Gabe, Qway, and Robert continued their great season. That is an awesome trio to build a program around. We have so many other guys beginning to step up." Christianson remarked.

Also earning points for the Yellow Jackets was John Reese, who finished fifth in the triple jump and sixth in the high jump, Tawon Cannon, who placed sixth with personal bests in the 400-meters (54.21) and 60-meter hurdles (9.23), and Fabian Santa Maria, who finished fifth in the high jump. Defiance also had three relay teams earn points. The 4x200 team of Carlens Elisias, Connor Bujalski, Joshua Gaffney, and Gashawn Moody took fourth place with a time of 1:38.27 while the 4x400 team of Reese, Cannon, Melvin, and Janvier placed fifth with a time of 3:45.02. The distance medley team of Bujalski. Moody, Brian Robins, and Jeremiah Benton also earned a point.

"John came up big with some points in the triple and high jump and led of our 4x400. Tawon had an impressive 4x400 leg as well and also got us points in the 60 hurdles and the 400.   Each week he gets better and better." said Christianson.

 Christianson also praised the efforts of Santa Maria and Gaffney, saying "Fabian got us some points in the high jump for us as well and was really happy for him stepping in today.  
Joshua had a huge leg in the 4x200 for us, and once he gets healthy, he will do better things outdoor. He's going to be a big part of our program moving forward."

Melvin's first-place finish earned him First Team All-HCAC honors while Marshall and Janvier earned Second Team nods. Janvier also earned Third Team honors for his performance in the 200. Last season Janvier was named All-HCAC Honorable Mention for his third-place finish in the 60.

Rose-Hulman won the event with a total of 194 points followed by Manchester with 104.5 points.

"I can't thank enough our amazing coaching staff coach Baldwin and Coach James.  Coach Baldwin has done an amazing job with our sprints and jumps this year and we would not have accomplished third without her.  The amount of work she puts in is absolutely amazing. The Defiance community really has supported us and I want to give special thanks to the football program for supporting us in these last few weeks," Christianson said "We are really excited for outdoor and the future of this program!"