Bruins kick off outdoor track season at Spire Distance Carnival

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- A limited number of Bruin track athletes took advantage of unseasonably warm conditions and turned in some excellent early-season performances at Friday evening's Spire Distance Carnival hosted by the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kan.

The evening was highlighted by two new school records by the Bruin women. Freshman Wren Hofacket ran to victory in her section of the 800-meter run and would finish in tenth place overall, clocking a Bruin all-time best of 2:21.91.

Ronald Kipyegon turned in the night's highest men's finish as he ran to a fifth-place finish in 1:53.86 for 800 meters. Robbie Siford continued his impressive half-mile improvement as he went under two minutes for the first time in 1:59.61. Trey Larson followed with 2:02.46, besting his indoor season best.

At 1500 meters, Grace Steinmetz placed third for the Bruins with a school record run of 4:42.59, also an early-season Frontier Conference best. Alicia Rivera Camargo was just off a personal best in 5:08.29 while Lydia Cherotich recorded 5:40.46.

Newcomer David Felipe Mejia made his Bruin debut and ran 4:14.08 for the men at 1500 meters. Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo recorded a lifetime best finishing in 4:19.09.

Finally, at 5,000 meters, Jose Lara Flores and Jack Brown both turned in personal bests and improvements on their indoor season, running 15:17.75 and 15:40.94, respectively.

Assistant Coach Matt Musiel was pleased with what he saw, commenting, "It was a great evening for distance running and our men and women took advantage of it. We carried the momentum from a great indoor season and have seen improvements in just a couple of weeks of getting outdoors. There's good stuff ahead."

The Bruins will head in two directions this coming week, with a couple headed east to the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis on Friday, while the rest of the team will be heading west to Kearney, Neb., on Saturday for the Central Nebraska Challenge.