Strong Winds Slow Times at Jim Dutcher Invite
The Bellevue University track teams were back in action on Saturday at the Jim Dutcher Memorial Track Invitational on the campus of Doane University. Persistent winds near 25 mph hampered all the athletes and personal bests were nearly impossible to accomplish in the conditions.
CRETE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University track teams were back in action on Saturday at the Jim Dutcher Memorial Track Invitational on the campus of Doane University. Persistent winds near 25 mph hampered all the athletes and personal bests were nearly impossible to accomplish in the conditions.
A runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase highlighted the Bruin efforts as Collin Kotz recorded a time of 10:48.88, well off his NSAA leading mark of 10:07.66. Edrei Murillo captured third place for the Bruins in the 1500-meter run with his 4:27.63 clocking. Gabe Poppen lowered his own school record in the 100-meter dash with his 11.75 finish. Poppen had previously run 11.88.
The Bruin women were led by Alisiara Hobbs who placed third in Friday evening's 5,000-meter run (22:14.54). Hobbs came back to compete in two events on Saturday running 5:43.02 for 1500 meters (10th) and 2:52.39 for 800 meters (13th).
Head Coach Craig Christians: " We had an entire team of ill student-athletes last week and pulled out of our meet at UNK last weekend. This was a chance for us to get back on track and our resilience and tenacity were certainly tested by the wind today. I thought we performed well given the conditions and the fact that no one was 100% recovered. We'll hope for some better conditions next week as we have one more tune-up before conference."
The Bruins will conclude their regular-season schedule with an evening meet at Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln on April 28. The NSAA championships will be May 12-13 in Valley City, N.D.