Five Bruins earn all-conference honors at Frontier Championships

DICKINSON, N.D. -- Five Bruins earned all-conference awards at this weekend's Frontier Conference outdoor track and field championships. The meet, hosted by Dickinson State, was run under warm and windy conditions that slowed times in the distance races but fueled fast sprint times.

The first event of the meet produced all-conference honors (top three finishers) for both the Bruin men and women. In the women's race, Grace Steinmetz ran to a comfortable victory in the 10,000-meter run, covering the 25 laps of the track in 40:26.29. The men's 10K saw David Felipe Mejia finish third in 32:50.10.

Preliminary heats of the 100-meter dash produced a school record for Emily Usher, who ran 13.23 seconds to break her previous record of 13.78. Terry Kalonji ran 12.11 seconds for the Bruin men

The first day's final events were the 4x800 meter relay, where the Bruin women's team of Maggie Boley, Wren Hofacket, Alicia Rivera Camargo, and Steinmetz ran to a fourth-place finish in 9:47.12. The men finished fifth in 8:22.48. That team included Luis Casallas Vega, Xavier Mallow, Ronald Kipyegon, and Robbie Siford.

The second day of competition began with a stellar 1-2 finish in the women's 1500-meter run as Boley brought home a Frontier Conference title in 4:44.91, the second fastest time in Bruin history. She was followed closely by Steinmetz, who earned her second all-conference award, finishing second in 4:47.16. Rivera Camargo was just outside the team points scorers (top 8) as she was ninth in 5:01.69. In the men's 1500, Xavier Mallow won heat no. 1 in a season-best 4:09.47 and would end up in eighth place overall. Jose Lara Flores ran to a tenth-place finish in 4:11.69.

Griffin Kipchumba Kisoryo ran the best 3,000-meter steeplechase race of his career to finish seventh in 10:36.11.

In the 800-meter run, Wren Hofacket also ran to a seventh-place finish, crossing in 2:23.90. Boley was just outside the scorers in ninth with her 2:25.10, while Lydia Cherotich finished in 2:43.50. A two-three finish in the men's 800 was the top highlight for the Bruin men. Kipyegon ran to the runner-up position in 1:54.09 with Casallas next to finish in a season-best 1:56.19. Four other Bruin entrants were Trey Larson (2:02.57), Robbie Siford (2:03.51), Justin Miller (2:09.09), and Alejandro Corona Martinez (2:18.47).

Emily Usher broke her second school record, running 28.14 in the 200 meters. For the men, Kalonji clocked 25.06.

Grace Steinmetz was back on the track for the fourth time in the meet, running the 5,000 meters, and produced her second victory and third all-conference honor as she ran to an immediate lead and was never challenged with an 18:06.53 victory. For the Bruin men, Lara was fifth for the Bruins in 16:06.09. Jack Brown was tenth in 16:30.73, with Mallow right behind eleventh in 16:33.66. Kisoryo ran to a 17:20.24 clocking.

The 4x400 meter relay was the day's final event, and both Bruin squads came home in sixth to add to the Bruin team total. The women (Boley, Hofacket, Rivera Camargo, and Usher) were just off their school record in 4:18.85 while the men (Casallas, Kipyegon, Larson, and Siford) finished in 3:30.92.

The men's team champion, Montana Tech, overcame runner-up Dickinson State in the final event to take home the Frontier Conference crown. The Bruin men scored 30 points to place eighth in the eleven-team meet. The Dakota State women captured their first Frontier Conference title as the Bruin women finished in seventh, scoring 45 points.

Champions of Character were recognized for each league school, and the award was presented to Cloey Usher and Luis Casallas Vega for the Bruins.

Head Coach Craig Christians: "It's a completely different and better meet with the addition of the Montana schools, and we performed at a high level with one or more scorers (top eight) in almost all of the distance races. Our program has moved to another level this year, and our athletes and Coach Musiel deserve all of the credit for their work and effort."

The Bruins will still have one more opportunity to meet an NAIA qualifying standard, and they will likely participate in a "last chance" meet this week at a site to be determined. Current national qualifiers include Grace Steinmetz in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, and Ronald Kipyegon, who will run the 800 meters. They will compete at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship in Asheville, N.C., on May 20-22.