SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- In just his second competition as a Bruin, Collin Kotz established his second school record at Saturday's Dordt Invitational in Sioux Center, Iowa. Kotz would return later in the afternoon to narrowly miss a third record as he highlighted the Bruin performances on the day.
The opening event for the Bruins on a mostly sunny but breezy afternoon was the men's 400 meters which saw Aaron Newton and Gabe Poppen both run season bests. Newton ran 54.43 seconds and Poppen cut over a second from his previous season-best of a week ago with 56.20 seconds. Poppen would return to the track later in the afternoon to record a 24.88 200 meter effort.
Next up for the Bruins was the 1500 meter run which featured two Bruin women and two men. On the women's side, Ali Hobbs was on the track for the first time in two years as she has battled a series of injuries and delivered a fine 5:38.27 outing. Hannah Perkins took over twelve seconds from her time of a week ago running 5:49.08.
Collin Kotz and Edrei Murillo provided the highest finished of the day with their 8th and 15th places. Kotz lowered the Bruin best by two seconds as he crossed the line in 4:13.17. He ran a 3,000 meter steeplechase record last weekend at Grandview. Murillo took five seconds from his lifetime 1500 meter best finishing in 4:20.31.
At 800 meters, Hannah Perkins ran a personal record with her 2:52.89 to cap a very good day for her. Newton finished an outstanding day as well as he knocked seven seconds from his effort of a week ago to run 2:07.88.
Finally, Kotz took another swing at a school record and narrowly missed in the 5,000 meters running 16:31.61, just four seconds shy of Chris Casart's mark set last year.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "We continue to set personal records so Coach Barbosa and myself can't ask for more than that. Our athletes can mix it up with some very good NAIA talent as they did today and I'm encouraged about how our program is being elevated by these performances."
The Bruins head north again next weekend to compete at the Sioux City Relays with events on both Friday and Saturday (April 8-9) at Elwood Olsen Stadium.
