BU Relays enter the charts, Steinmetz qualifies in second event at Concordia Classic
SEWARD, Neb. -- The Bruin men and women track squads ran their first distance medley relays of the season at Saturday's Concordia Classic and posted times that rank among the tops in the NAIA. The women's team of Maggie Boley (1200 meters), Emily Usher (400 meters), Wren Hofacket (800 meters), and Grace Steinmetz (1600 meters) recorded a mark of 12:45.95, which now ranks as No. 8 in the NAIA and is also the Frontier Conference leader. The men's group of Xavier Mallow, Avan Salas, Luis Casallas Vega, and Jose Lara Flores moved into the No. 15 position in the NAIA with their 10:27.68 clocking. That time is also first in the Frontier.
The Bruins produced a number of individual highlights as well, beginning with the 600-meter run, where Cody Fikar recorded 1:26.35 to move to the number two spot in Bruin history.
In the mile run, Alicia Rivera Camargo had an indoor personal best and cracked the Bruin Top Ten list with her 5:49.91 clocking.
At 800 meters, Ashley Guatelmala-Ortiz entered the Bruin charts at No. 9 with her personal best of 2:42.66. Cloey Usher improved to 2:52.26 in that race. For the men, Trey Larson ran a season best 2:04.99 for eleventh place and Xavier Mallow crossed the line at 2:08.49.
Luis Casallas Vega narrowly missed an overall victory when he was edged at the line in the 1000-meter run. His time of 2:33.98 is second on the Bruin all-time list.
Following her NAIA national qualifier at 5,000 meters last week, Grace Steinmetz secured her second qualifying mark, this time at 3,000 meters. Steinmetz trailed the leader for most of the race, and then a strong finish propelled her to the victory and a 10:06.64 time that puts her at No. 7 on the NAIA list and first in the Frontier. That time was also a new meet record. Maggie Boley ran her first 3K of the season and placed sixth in 10:44.54, the fourth fastest time in the Frontier.
For the men at 3,000, Jack Brown cracked the Bruin Top Ten with his sixth-place finish in 8:58.66. Griffin Kipchumba was just off his personal best in 9:26.30.
At the shorter distances, Terry Kalonji set a personal best at 400 meters in 59.18 while Lydia Cherotich recorded 1:10.83 for the Bruin women. At 200 meters, Kalonji returned to the track with a time of 26.09 while Emily Usher ran 30.02 in the women's race.
Finally, Bruin 1600-meter relay squads completed the day's events, with the women's squad of Guatemala-Ortiz, Hofacket, Rivera-Camargo, and Cloey Usher finishing fifth in 4:41.22, while the men's team of Salas, Mallow, Larson, and Fikar recorded 3:38.36.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "Another good meet for us, and it provided some answers as to what we pursue in terms of national qualifying in our next few meets. It's exciting to have our athletes chasing these times, and their motivation is at a very high level."
The Bruins will head south to Maryville, Mo., next Friday and Saturday when Northwest Missouri State hosts the Bearcat Classic on their 300 indoor oval.