Bruin Track continues improvement at Doane
CRETE, Neb. -- Paced by four new school records, three NAIA top twenty times, and a number of personal bests, the Bruin track team continued its march toward the Frontier Conference Championships when it competed at Saturday's Scott Nisely Invitational hosted by Doane University.
Terry Kalonji got things started off with a school record in the 60-meter dash with his time of 7.72 seconds. He would return later in the day to improve on his personal best at 200 meters, recording 26.11 seconds.
The mile run provided the Bruins with two overall meet championships. For the women, Grace Steinmetz' winning time of 5:14.40 was just 0.02 seconds from Maggie Boley's school record. Steinmetz sits at No.19 in the NAIA, and she and Boley occupy the two top spots on the Frontier Conference list. Alicia Rivera Camargo placed eleventh in 6:00.71 while Ashley Guatemala-Ortiz crossed the line in 6:28.33.
Jack Brown captured the first win of his indoor career with a 4:30.41 mile run. The Bruins had an outstanding mile event with Xavier Mallow in second in 4:37.53, followed by Robbie Siford's personal best 4:44.98.
At 400 meters, Avan Salas moved into the second position on the Bruin list with his 52.92. Emily Usher had a season-best of 1:08.70 in the women's race.
Luis Casallas Vega lowered the school record in the 600 meters, finishing second in 1:25.49. That mark is No. 4 in the Frontier. Trey Larson ran 1:29.85 for ninth.
The lone entrant at 800 meters was Cody Fikar, who posted 2:01.35, moving into the Bruin Top Ten.
Maggie Boley's run at 1000 meters was less than a half second off the NAIA "B" qualifying standard as she ran to a runner-up finish with a 3:01.79. That time was a school record and is currently No. 12 in the NAIA. Wren Hofacket crossed in 3:27.68, followed by Lydia Cherotich in 3:43.02. For the men, Robbie Siford followed his mile run with a Top Ten Bruin time of 2:50.74 for the one-kilometer event.
Grace Steinmetz ran to her second meet win at 3,000 meters with a school record 10:20.54 mark and now sits atop the Frontier Conference list as well as No. 14 in the NAIA. Cloey Usher ran to a personal best of 13:08.40.
The final event, the 1600-meter relay, saw both men's and women's squads within one second of school records. The women's team of Emily Usher, Boley, Rivera Camargo, and Hofacket was just 0.1 seconds off the record, running 4:33.04. The men were about a half-second off the record in 3:36.26. That team was Salas, Casallas, Brown, and Larson.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "Another really good meet for us. It's so fun to see the times drop, but it doesn't happen by accident. The commitment to getting better goes from our first to last person, and it's great to be around a group like that."
The Bruins travel to Lincoln and the Bob Devaney Center next Friday, Jan. 23, for the Prairie Wolf Invitational, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University.