Rose-Hulman Set to Host Competitive HCAC Track and Field Championships

TERRE HAUTE, IN - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology ended Anderson University 's 13 year run as conference champions in men's track and field last spring and will look to win back-to-back titles this weekend in Terre Haute . The Engineers defeated the Ravens 199 to 193 on the campus of Anderson University last April. The Anderson women won their fourth straight conference championship last spring, holding off Manchester 185.5 to 131.

The Rose-Hulman men will turn to a freshman to replace two-event champion Thomas Reives from a year ago. Freshman Sutton Coleman (Lebanon , Va. /H.S.) holds the conference's top times in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles and boasts the top leap in the triple jump this spring. Coleman has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.67 and is the only HCAC athlete to pace the league in three different events.

This year's championship is up for grabs as five different institutions have placed claim to at least three events in the top performance list this outdoor season. Defiance College leads the way with five top performances, with Franklin and Manchester each notching four. Rose and Mount St. Joseph have top marks in three events.

The Anderson women's track team will try for their fifth consecutive HCAC championship this weekend in Terre Haute . This year's Ravens squad has had to fill the void left by Amanda Nagy and Gwen Kemple from a year ago. Nagy won two events at the conference championships, while Kemple topped the podium in three different events last spring. Senior Michelle Roth (Milwaukee , Wis. /Lutheran) has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump and holds the conference's second best mark in the long jump this season.

Defiance's women have posted five top marks this spring. Freshman hurdler Marlea Rolander (Napoleon, Ohio/H.S.) was named Track Athlete of the Week three times this season and has yet to lose to a conference opponent in the 100 meter hurdles.

Franklin College's Heather Waterman (Shelbyville , Ind. / Morristown ) has dominated the distance events on the women's side, posting top times in the 800, 1,500, and 5,000 meters. She is the only women's athlete to hold three top marks during the outdoor schedule.

The 2009 HCAC championships will be held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25. Action will get underway at 3:30 PM Friday afternoon and will continue Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.