OSKALOOSA, Iowa -- The Bellevue University distance track teams completed one final tune-up meet before taking on the North Star Association Meet on May 13-14. A brutal day for distance running with temperatures in the 80's and steady winds of 25 miles per hour accompanied by gusts up to 40 mpg ruled out chances for personal bests at the Statesmen Relays on the William Penn University campus.
"We had to change our mindset and consider this a hard workout," commented head coach Craig Christians. "Everyone else was facing that same wind so we had to focus on competing and hoping for better conditions at the conference meet."
Desyebelew Debesh had the top finish for the Bruins on the day as he placed in the runner-up spot in the men's 800 meters. Debesh ran 2:06.56, just a second over his season-best. Christians commented, "I liked the way Des competed but when he turned into the home stretch and that headwind, the gap was too much to overcome."
Three Bruins took home third-place finishes. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Edrei Murillo ran 11:02.12 for the third spot with Cole Wagner behind him in fourth, crossing the line in 11:44.51.
In the 5,000 meters, Aaron Newton took the third position while Lorena Ramirez did the same for the women. They ran times of 19:22.65 and 21:59.14, respectively. Christians added, "The 5K was easily the most brutal event of the day since it came at the end of the day and both Lorena and Aaron had competed previously. That was not easy and I admired their toughness."
Gabe Poppen worked on some speed and ran 55.40 in the men's 400 meters. "Unless you had the wind at your back, every race was tough today, even Gabe's 400," added Christians.
In the 1,500-meter races, Ramirez was sixth in 5:25.40 with Dayana and Diana Montano-Salama finishing in 7:10.82 and 7:32.96 respectively. For the men, Debesh led four Bruins across the line, placing ninth in 4:29.80. Aaron Newton (4:39.15), Chris Casart 4:42.94), and Dixon Kiptoo (4:56.65) rounded out the Bruin entries.
The Bruins have now completed their final regular-season event and now await the NSAA Conference Meet to be held in Forest City, Iowa on May 13-14. Christians: "The hard work is pretty much done at this point and we'll use the next dozen or so days to fine tune some things, get rested, and hope to perform at our best. Maybe the wind won't be blowing?"
