The Bruins men's and women's indoor track squads continued their season with meets at Doane (Fred Beile Invite) and Concordia (Concordia Classic) over the past two weekends. Those meet saw time improvements by every member of the squad.
The Concordia Classic was highlighted by Aaron Newton's personal best in the mile run and an eighth-place finish in the field of NAIA, Division II and Division III athletes. Newton's time was the second-fastest in Bruin history and the fourth consecutive meet he has improved lowering his best from his early-season effort of 4:55 to Friday's 4:44.49. He returned later in the meet to record a 2:15.30 clocking in the 800 meters. For the women, Sarah Felten made a final surge to win her heat and established a school record in the process, running 1:50.22 in the 600-meter run. Olivia Russo moved up in distance to the 3,000-meter race and recorded a no. 3 effort on the indoor list with her time of 12:11.96. Ali Hobbs ran two season bests covering the mile in 6:10.27 and returning in the 1,000-meter race to run 3:34.50.
At the Fred Beile Invite on January 29 at Doane, Lorelei Hayden continued her record-setting ways with new indoor marks in the 1000 meter and the mile races. In the 1,000, she took six seconds from Caroline Feig's one-week-old record, running 3:24.49. Feig followed her in 3:31.31 with Olivia Russo crossing the line in 3:35.76. Hayden recorded the team's best placement of the day finishing as runner-up in the mile race, posting a new Bruin best of 5:47.48. Caroline Feig ran a mile personal best 5:53.38, Olivia Russo crossed in 6:01.51 and Ali Hobbs recorded a 6:18.72. Sarah Felten ran a season's best 2:44.05 in the 800 meters and established a Bruin best in the 400 meters running 1:07.61. Aaron Newton had the men's best finish on the day with a fourth place effort in the mile, running 4:46.04. Edrei Murillo crossed in 4:50.70, good for seventh. Newton came back in the 800 meters to record a 2:11.66.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "We're getting better and at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. We are so far ahead of where we were at this time last year. I'm excited to see what we can do when we get outdoors in March and I know the athletes are excited, too. We've got one more regular season meet and then travel to Brookings for conference and I think we're going to see some great performances. Coach Barbosa and I are really proud of how hard they are working in some less than favorable weather and it's great to see it pay off at the meets. We are seeing the confidence that comes with performing at a high level. "
The Bruins conclude the regular indoor meet season with a return trip to Concordia next Saturday (Feb. 12) and then close out indoors with the NSAA Indoor Championships at Brookings, S.D. on February 20.
