RHIT Selected by Coaches as HCAC Men’s Track & Field Champs

GREENWOOD, IN – Rose-Hulman’s men’s track and field team has been selected as the unanimous front runner to win the 2010 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. In a poll of the nine HCAC head coaches, the Engineers received 81 total points and all nine first place votes. 

Franklin College will strive for its first title in school history, as the Grizzlies totaled a second-best 64 points.  Defiance College placed third in the poll with 61 points and Manchester College finished fourth with 60 points.  Anderson University finished fifth with 49 points and was followed by Hanover College (33 points), College of Mount St. Joseph (26), Bluffton University (22), and Transylvania University (9).

Rose has claimed the last two HCAC championships and will look for their third straight this spring.  The Engineers return the HCAC Freshman of the Year and two other All-HCAC members to the squad.  Sutton Coleman (Lebanon, Va./H.S.) won the 110 and 400 meter hurdles and was a member of the 4 X 400 meter relay team that placed first in last spring’s meet.  The freshman also won the triple jump on his way to Freshman of the Year honors.  Travis Vanderberg (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill) and Paul Bouagnon (St. Charles, Ill./Burlington Central) also return after All-HCAC performances last spring.

Franklin finished fourth at last spring’s HCAC meet and will have to replace two All-HCAC performers from last year’s squad.  The Grizzlies will turn to a pair of sophomores to carry the load this season.  John Woodbury (Trafalgar, Ind./Indian Creek) finished third in the 110 meter hurdles and seventh in the 400 meter hurdles last April, while Jon Miller (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) will try and improve on his fourth place finish in the 100 meter dash and third place finish in the 200 meters.

Defiance earned a third place finish at last year’s championship meet and will try for their first conference title this spring.  The Yellow Jackets return a core of talent from last season’s team.  Sophomore Justin Perkins (Bryan, Ohio/Fairview) earned the conference title in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and placed sixth in the 1,500 meter run.  Junior Ryan Perry (North Royalton, Ohio/H.S.) is a returning member of the 4 X 100 meter relay team that won the HCAC title.  Perry also finished seventh in the 100 meter dash.  Austin Trivett (Defiance, Ohio/H.S.) placed in five different events last spring, earning points in the high jump, 110 hurdles, pole vault, javelin, and long jump.

The 2010 HCAC Men’s Track and Field Championships are set for Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1.  The event will be hosted by the College of Mount St. Joseph.

The 2010 men’s outdoor track and field season is set to begin on March 20.

Athletes to Watch