Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis announces Men's Track and Field Team Opens Indoor Slate at Bellarmine
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The IUPUI men's track team officially kicked off its indoor season on Friday (Jan. 20) at the Bellarmine Open at the Norton HC Center. The day saw a number of banner efforts from the Jaguars as Grant Moon finished second overall in the 3,000m event and freshmen Jaylon Cooper and Nick Pulos each collected heat wins in their collegiate debuts.
"Today was a great start to the season. We had several personal bests, a school record and lots of growth seen within the program from fall. We were pleased with the results, knowing it's our first meet back, but I know the team is hungry to get back at it in the weeks to come," head coach Justin Roeder said. "The energy from the team on the sidelines really fueled some spectacular performances in the 3K and 4x400 relay."
Moon rattled off a time of 8:19.40 in the 3K for a runner-up finish, shedding 15 seconds off his prior best. Mitchell Gits rattled off a time of 8:24.60 to place third while taking more than 30 seconds off his previous best. Wilson Whicker also notched a personal best time of 8:45.43 and Pulos finished at 8:59.97.
"I'm extremely happy with how the team competed today. There were a lot of standout performances today, but the people's favorite had to be Nick Pulos with a gutsy win in his heat of the 3K," Moon said. "Our boys competed hard, but also made sure we supported each other throughout the entire meet. I'm super excited to see how our team progresses in the upcoming weeks."
In the mile, Keith Bye registered a personal best time of 4:23.40 and Cooper made an impressive debut in the 400, placing fourth overall at 51.36.
In the 800, James Kuisel was eighth with a personal best time of 1:58.28 and Mason Wolfe made his IUPUI debut with a time of 1:58.34.
The day ended with the Jaguars notching a new school record in the 4x400 relay as Wolfe, Alex Parkhurst, Connor Hamilton and Cooper clocked a time of 3:30.57, taking more than a second off the prior best.
"Coach Miller and I are excited to get back to training next week and fine tune some things heading into the next competition," Roeder said.
Selected members of the IUPUI team will compete at the Tom Hathaway Challenge at UIndy next Friday (Feb. 27) and Saturday (Feb. 28).
Original post can be found here.