Casallas, relay squads shine as Bruin Men conclude Frontier Championships

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The second and final day of competition at the inaugural Frontier Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded a successful meet for the Bellevue University Bruins, who captured three individual titles and established 10 school records.

Dickinson State University took home the team titles for both the men and women, with former North Star Athletic Association foe Dakota State University securing the runner-up trophies. The Bruin women finished seventh overall, and the men placed eighth in the team race. Ten Frontier Conference squads competed. The meet was hosted on the 300-meter oval of the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex on the campus of South Dakota State University.

Freshman Grace Steinmetz was named the Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet after sweeping the three distance races. Following her 5,000-meter win on Saturday, she returned to the track on Sunday to win the 1-mile and 3,000-meter runs.

Steinmetz got things started in the mile, again beginning conservatively and then pulling away mid-race for the victory in 5:13.67. Lydia Cherotich ran a 6:14.99 for a 12th-place finish.

For the men, Xavier Mallow and Cody Fikar both scored team points with their seventh- and eighth-place finishes in the mile. Mallow ran a season-best 4:25.47, while Fikar's 4:26.84 was a personal record. Jack Brown was 13th in 4:31.30, and Robbie Siford added a lifetime best of his own in 4:41.09.

Wren Hofacket and Trey Larson both lowered their own school records in the 600-meter run. Hofacket placed eighth for the women in 1:43.14, while Larson finished seventh in the men's race in 1:24.96.

Luis Casallas Vega secured the top finish of the day for the Bruin men, placing fourth in the 800 meters. His time of 1:56.61 was just off his lifetime best. Siford returned a short time after the mile to set another personal best, clocking a 2:00.34 to place 12th.

In the sprints, Emily Usher set her third school record of the meet with a 28.90 time in the 200-meter event. For the men, Avan Salas ran a 23.41 to move to the No. 3 spot on the Bruin record board, while Terry Kalonji recorded a lifetime best of 25.23.

Steinmetz returned to the track for her third gold medal of the meet in the 3,000-meter run, where she dominated the field with a 10:08.06 clocking. Cloey Usher posted a season-best 13:37.82. In the men's 3,000 meters, Jose Lara Flores ran to an 11th-place finish with a time of 8:58.41, while Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo recorded a 9:36.46.

The day's final event, the 4x400-meter relay, saw the men's squad of Casallas, Fikar, Mallow, and Larson lower the Bruin record mark to 3:32.47, earning a sixth-place finish. The women's team of Emily Usher, Hofacket, Alicia Rivera Camargo, and Cherotich ran to an eighth-place finish in 4:33.50.

Following the meet, the Frontier Conference recognized its indoor track Champions of Character. The Bruins receiving the honor were Emily Usher and Jose Lara Flores.

"Our program continues to develop, and I'm really proud of our efforts this weekend," head coach Craig Christians said. "We had an entrant in all but one event, and that is a record for us. That one event was the women's 800 meters, and had she been healthy and able to run, Maggie Boley would have done very well. We had so many personal bests to go with the 10 school records, and as Coach Musiel keeps reminding us, we have only reached 75% of our peak fitness during the indoor season, so we can't wait to get outdoors."

Prior to the outdoor season, one meet remains. Steinmetz will represent the Bruins at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Gainesville, Fla., on March 5-8. Steinmetz has qualified in the mile, 3,000-meter, and 5,000-meter events, but due to the schedule, will likely only compete in the 5K, where she is currently ranked fifth in the NAIA.