SEWARD, Neb. -- Richard Marcoux joined Saba Khvichava as a qualifier for the NAIA indoor track and field championships with his performance at Friday's Concordia Invite in Seward, Neb. Marcoux, and Khvichava will be the first-ever Bruin representatives at the NAIA national championship meet in Brookings, S.D. on March 2-4.
Five Bruin men opened Friday's action in the mile run. Marcoux had his eyes set on meeting the NAIA "B" standard of 4:20.29 after falling just short in two previous attempts. Khvichava, who had previously met the NAIA qualifying time, paced Marcoux through the halfway mark before stepping off the track. From there, Marcoux chased Concordia's Cam Sesna, and a furious final lap brought him home just under the wire in 4:20.14. Marcoux's runner-up finish in the mile highlighted a strong showing by the Bruins as Collin Kotz finished eighth and Edrei Murillo and Aaron Newton went eleven-twelve. Kotz chopped over four seconds from his previous best in 4:35.59, Murillo finished in 4:39.29, and Newton ran 4:45.36 in winning the opening section.
Newton came back for his second strong race of the day in the 800-meter run, just missing his second section win of the day by 0.3 seconds as he finished in 2:06.28. He would wind up in tenth place among all sections.
The final event of the day for the Bruins was the 3,000-meter run. Saba Khvichava took home the top spot with an 8:48.98 clocking, establishing a new school record, lowering his own previous mark by six seconds. Collin Kotz captured sixth place with a time of 9:30.22.
Coach Craig Christians: "I am thrilled for Richard. He has worked so hard and has battled some illness and injury over the past few weeks so his qualifying has to be especially satisfying for him. Having two guys at nationals is a huge step for us. Otherwise, I thought this was a great tune-up for conference next week. Aaron and Collin both ran two high-quality races today, and they will be called on to do it again next week in Brookings (NSAA championship)."
The Bruins will travel to Brookings on Saturday for Sunday's (2/19) NSAA championship meet, held on the 300-meter oval on the campus of South Dakota State University. SDSU will also play host to the NAIA national championship eleven days later.
