SAN ANTONIO – St. Edward's men's track & field opened the outdoor season at the Trinity Invitational, setting several personal bests.
"What a day. There were so many strong performances in different events," St. Edward's head track & field coach Steven Cary says. "We had lots of folks run personal bests or open their season faster than they have in the past. The energy was there today. Everyone fed off of the performance before them.
"From start to finish, we had performances that stood out across the board, including a big school record in the 4 x 400 to finish off the meet."
TYRIQ WILSON set a new program mark in the 400 meters, clocking in at 49.64 for a fifth-place finish. MARCUS AGUINALDO also bested the previous record of 50.58 with a seventh-place time of 49.83. GABRIEL LOPEZ finished 13th with a time of 51.02.
NICHOLAS GONZALEZ set a new personal-best time in the 1,500 meters, placing second at 4:01.04. SAM FLUSCHE also placed in the top 10 with a time of 4:10.40. AJ PENA (15th, 4:10.40), KIERNAN WORK (16th, 4:14.76), CARLOS BARRERA (19th, 4:16.59), and IAN CLENNAN (20th, 4:17.69) also competed.
SEBASTIAN KORAN paced the Hilltoppers in the 800 meters with a fifth-place finish of 1:57.01. NICHOLAS GONZALEZ (11th, 1:58.79), WILLIE ODEM (12th, 1:59.81), JOSEPH O'HALLORAN (16th, 2:00.87), JACOB HUGHEY (21st, 2:02.77), WARREN ANGUIANO (22nd, 2:03.72), AJ PENA (23rd, 2:03.83), TAYGHEN SANCHEZ (34th, 2:08.59), SAM FLUSCHE (37th, 2:09.28), and LUKE ABAD (38th, 2:10.71).
CHASE BENNETT placed 27th in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:24.52.
The men's 4x400 relay team of GABRIEL LOPEZ, MARCUS AGUINALDO, AJ PENA, and TYRIQ WILSON broke the school's previous mark of 3:25.16 set at last year's Trinity Invitational with a third-place time of 3:20.54.
"I'm really proud of the way everyone is working right now," Cary says. "We're getting more and more locked in each week. We'll get back to work to be at our best in a few weeks at ACU."
St. Edward's will compete in two weeks at the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational on Friday, March 17, through Saturday, March 18, in Abilene, Texas.
