CRETE, Neb. -- The Bruin distance track squad opened its 2023 indoor track campaign at Saturday's Scott Nisely Memorial on the campus of Doane University. The Bruin men established two school records among a number of quality early-season performances.
Six Bruins contested the mile run to start the day. Saba Khvichava, running in his first race as a Bruin, was the overall winner of the event in an outstanding and school-record-breaking time of 4:19.14. That time is currently the eighth fastest in the NAIA and meets the "B" national meet qualifying standard. Richard Marcoux hung onto Khvichava throughout the race and came home in third overall, running 4:22.45, a huge personal improvement and a time that puts him in 12th currently in the NAIA. Both Khvichava and Marcoux were well under the existing school record.
A foursome of Bruins also had impressive season-opening mile races, with Edrei Murillo leading that group in 4:41.32. Collin Kotz was next for the Bruins in 4:47.53, followed by Aaron Newton in 4:51.71 and Kaleb Wooten running 4:55.32.
The next event for the Bruins was the 800-meter run in which Newton clocked 2:16.19.
Finally, three Bruins contested the 3,000-meter event, with Marcoux claiming the second school record of the day with his 9:23.71 clocking, slicing just over five seconds from the previous mark. Kotz and Wooten came back for their second races of the day, running 9:37.94 and 10:00.52, respectively.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "We had an outstanding first meet of the season. Coach Barbosa has given us a great workout plan, and the guys are attacking it with passion. I expected that we would see some improvements, but I was really surprised about where we are already. That kind of success is fun, and I think we're even more motivated now to see where it can take us."
The Bruins return to action on Friday, January 20, when they travel to UNL's Devaney Center for the Prairie Wolf Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan.
