Four records fall, Kipyegon qualifies for Nationals at Loper Invitational

KEARNEY, Neb. -- The Bellevue University track teams found some good weather for a change at Sunday's Loper Invitational and responded with four school records, numerous personal bests, and a NAIA national qualifying mark.

The meet, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Sunday to take advantage of the temperatures in the 60's and a light breeze at Kearney High School's outdoor track.
The marquee event for the Bruins was the 800 meters, which produced two school records. Maggie Boley set a new women's program mark as she ran to a third-place finish in 2:19.13. Following close behind was Wren Hofacket, who eclipsed her personal record, running 2:20.05. Those marks are currently fourth and fifth in the Frontier Conference.

Ronald Kipyegon punched his ticket to the NAIA outdoor championship as he eclipsed the "B" qualifying standard with a fourth-place 1:51.87. That was also a Bruin record and is the current Frontier Conference leader. Luis Casallas Vega ran a season-best 1:56.66 for 10th place. Six more Bruin men contested the 800, led by Xavier Mallow (2:00.67), Robbie Siford (2:00.93), Cody Fikar (2:03.55-SB), Trey Larson (2:03.96), Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo (2:04.72), and Justin Miller (2:08.52).

Jose Lara Flores ran to a lifetime best in the 1500-meter run with his tenth-place finish in 4:03.94. Griffin Kipchumba crossed the line in 2:25.46, and Alejandro Corona Martinez ran a season-best 4:48.99. Alicia Rivera Camargo dipped under the five-minute barrier for the first time with her seventh-place finish in 4:59.45, making her the fourth Bruin woman to accomplish the feat this season.

Emily Usher lowered her own school record in the 200-meter dash with a 28.76 clocking. At 200 meters for the men, Avan Salas 23.29, with Terry Kalonji behind him in 24.79. Kalonji also ran 12.14 at 100 meters.

The lone long-distance entrant of the day was Lydia Cherotich, who ran 21:51.14 for 5,000 meters. In the field, Bentlee Kollbaum tossed the javelin 32.91 meters to finish seventh.

The final school record of the day was produced by the 4 x 400m relay squad of Emily Usher, Rivera Camargo, Boley, and Hofacket, who ran to a Bruin best of 4:18.25. The Bruin men entered two squads in the men's event as team "Purple" prevailed over team "Gold" in a spirited race that came down to the homestretch. The "Purple" squad of Casallas Vega, Fikar, Larson, and Salas ran 3:29.91 to capture the intersquad trophy while the team of Siford, Mallow, Miller, and Kipyegon crossed in 3:32.16.

Head Coach Craig Christians: "It was great for the athletes to experience some good racing weather, and we're grateful to UNK for making the call to move the meet. We're rounding into shape, and we saw some great runs in the middle-distance races, but we know there's more to come. It's an exciting week ahead of us."

The squad splits into three for this coming week's action. For the first time in school history, the Bruins will have a relay, actually three of them, running at the prestigious Drake Relays on Thursday and Saturday. A few athletes will travel a little farther east to Simpson College for the Kip Javrin Invite, while the rest of the squad participates in the Prairie Wolf Invite, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan, on Thursday.