Bruins Open Outdoor Track Season at Wildcat Classic

Results

WAYNE, Neb. -- Just three short weeks after concluding their indoor track season, the Bruins were back in action at Saturday's season-opening Wildcat Classic hosted by Wayne State. Cool conditions with temperatures in the mid-40's and blustery winds created conditions difficult for personal bests, but the Bruins still came away with some good first-meet marks.

The Bruins got their season started in fine fashion as Collin Kotz captured the win in the day's first event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kotz took the title with his 10:20.60 clocking and a 3-second victory over Daniel Green of Dakota State.

The top efforts of the day for the men belonged to Richard Marcoux, who established two school records in his first outdoor track outing as a Bruin. Marcoux began his day in the 1500 meters and posted a school-best 4:12.73, good for sixth place. Aaron Newton added a fine effort as well, running 4:29.76, just three seconds from his lifetime best. He was followed by Edrei Murillo in 4:31.66 and Collin Kotz, coming back shortly after his steeplechase run, who crossed in 4:39.84.

Marcoux again recorded a Bruin best in the 800 meters as he won his heat with an excellent early season clocking of 1:59.31. He would end up in seventh place overall after all heats had been contested. Aaron Newton ran his second race of the day, finishing in 2:14.94.

The women's highlights came from a newcomer, a greatly improved athlete, and one returning to action after a long injury-related absence.

Freshman Alicia Rivera Camargo from Bogota, Colombia, has been in Bellevue for just two weeks but has already made an immediate impact. Rivera Camargo ran the second-fastest 1,500 meters and third-fastest 800 meters in Bruin history. In the 1,500 meters, Rivera Camargo posted a time of 5:23.78 moving her to No. 2 all time. She placed 13th overall.

The greatly improved runner was Hannah Perkins, coming off a breakthrough cross country season. She cut a huge fifteen seconds from her 1,500-meter personal best of a year ago, crossing the line in 5:34.40 and 20th place. Caroline Feig's 6:16.37 and Claire Kimutai's 6:26.14 completed the Bruin entries in the 1,500.

Rivera Camargo came back later in the day for her second race, this time just two seconds shy of the school record. Her 2:36.83 time moved her to no. 3 on the Bruin all-time outdoor list.

Finally, for the Bruins, Madison Nelson returned from missing the indoor season following foot surgery after her All-American finish at the NAIA cross country championships in December. Nelson ran a controlled race to test her fitness and placed eighth in the field of 21 runners, bested only by runners from Division I Creighton and NAIA power Dordt. Her 19:14.90 was just 20 seconds from last year's school record.

Head Coach Craig Christians: "We had a good opening meet or, as Coach Barbosa would say, "a good day at the office." I liked the way all of our athletes raced today, especially in challenging conditions. We have yet to do much fast training, and I believe that when we do, we are going to be running a lot of personal records."

The Bruins travel to Kearney in a week for Saturday's Central Nebraska Challenge hosted by UN-Kearney.