DICKINSON, N.D. -- The final day of the NSAA Outdoor Track Championships saw the Bruin distance squad add two more all-conference finishes (top three in individual events). The Bruins ended the meet with four such performances.
Overcast and cool conditions peppered with light rain challenged the athletes at Dickinson State's Bieslot Stadium. The day's opening event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase, would be the Bruin men's only All-conference finish of the meet. Collin Kotz challenged two Dakota State runners throughout the race but crossed the line in third after a hard-fought homestretch. His 9:50.48 was three seconds shy of his season best.
In the middle distance events, Alicia Rivera Camargo produced the top finish with a fifth-place finish at 1500 meters, running 5:10.91. In the 800-meter run, Caroline Feig was 16th in the Women's race, crossing in 2:43.06, a season best. For the men, Aaron Newton scored the final team point with an eighth-place finish, recording a time of 2:04.74.
The day's final event was the 5,000-meter run and as she did on day one in the 10K, Madison Nelson defended her crown from a year ago running 19:02.08 and earning her second all-conference award of the meet. Two more Bruins got into the team scoring column as Alicia Rivera Camargo and Hannah Perkins ran to sixth and seventh place with times of 20:17.17 and 20:19.71, respectively. For the men, Kaleb Wooten ran to a tenth-place finish in a time of 17:36.43.
Running in their final races as Bruins, Caroline Feig and Aaron Newton were recognized as NSAA Champions of Character.
For the meet, the men tallied seven team points to finish as the seventh-place squad while the women accumulated 37 points and edged Iowa Wesleyan to finish sixth in the final team standings.
Head Coach Craig Christians: "I was particularly proud of the way our women represented us in the longer distance events. Madison makes it look easy and is unrivaled in the conference right now. Hannah runs with so much toughness and Alicia has come a long way in her first season of completion with us. Those three are a great nucleus to build upon for next season. For the men, we, unfortunately, left many of our points at home due to injury. That being said, I was really pleased with the way our small band competed and feel like we have the pieces to have a quality cross country team next fall."
