LEWISBURG, Pa. - The American University track team closed its indoor campaign on Sunday with the second day of the Patriot League Championships, hosted by Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa.

HEAR FROM COACH GRAHAM...
"We had a mixed bag of results this weekend at our first indoor championship meet in two years - there were a number of personal bests, a number of near-misses, and a few challenging races. On the women's side, Nia Holden ran very strong in the 800m. She earned a PR in the prelim on Saturday then returned on Sunday and scored in the final before coming back to run a very strong leg on the 4x400m. That 4x4 was the second fastest ever run at AU. Nia, Alisha Netus, Elise Hooker, and Lucia Ianello ran just a few seconds off the school record, and we are so excited about the progression of that squad this season.

"On the men's side, freshman Oscar Counsell had an impressive weekend. He earned a new PR in the mile, was the only freshman to advance into the final, and finished just outside of scoring. Russell Sullivan also had a strong weekend, but unfortunately just missed scoring in both the 5k (9th) and 3k (10th). They ran away from the field to win the second heat of the 3k, but it just was not quite fast enough to get them into a scoring position. Our relays on the men's side also ran very well. The 4x800m scored on day one and the DMR just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish behind solid runs on every leg. The 4x4 closed it out and got a couple more points and a new top-10 time in program history. In all those relays, sophomore Ethan Puc ran very well.

"Now heading into the outdoor season, we have a good stretch of training to move those near-misses into scoring positions, and pull those who had a challenging weekend back into form."

#AUTF NOTES

• Oscar Counsell opened the day with the final of the men's mile. He was the lone freshman in the field and finished just one spot outside of scoring in ninth with a final time of 4:15.81 - a time that would have been a new PR had it not been for the 4:13.88 he ran the day prior in the semifinal.
• Junior Nia Holden also faced her second race of the weekend after qualifying for the 800m final on Saturday with a new PR and the third-fastest time in program history (2:14.43). She battled up front in the field for a stretch but closed in eighth (2:18.39) to pick up a point for the Eagles.
• Junior Russell Sullivan returned after a ninth-place finish in the 5000m run on Saturday to place 10th in the 3000m on Sunday with a new PR of 8:29.60.
• The relays closed out the weekend's events - first up was a fourth-place finish in the distance medley by sophomore Ethan Puc and juniors Nathan Reeves, Malcolm Going, and Tucker Zullo. 
• Puc and Going returned a few minutes later to join junior Jackson McCarthy and freshman Brian Gutro in the 4x400m. The foursome placed seventh in the field with the 10th-fastest time in program history (3:34.47).
• For the third time this season, the women's 4x400m ran one of the top-five times in program history. The squad of seniors Alisha Netus and Elise Hooker, junior Nia Holden, and freshman Lucia Ianello placed eighth in the field with the second-fastest time in AU history - 4:10.81. 

The Eagles will now look forward to the outdoor season, scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 12, with the Coastal Carolina Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

For the latest on American University Track, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_TrackXC) and Instagram (@AU_TrackXC).
 

#AUTF RESULTS - SATURDAY
EVENT	ENTRIES
Mile, Men (semis)	9. Oscar Counsell, 4:13.88q PR / 12. Nathan Reeves, 4:16.17 / 16. Michael Cullen, 4:34.59 PR / 19. Foster Boone, 4:52.34
400m, Men (semis)	21. Brian Gutro, 54.27 / 22. Tyler White, 1:02.55
400m, Women (semis)	33. Erika Linke, 1:11.84
800m, Men (semis)	15. Danny O'Neill, 2:02.35
800m, Women (semis)	8. Nia Holden, 2:14.43q PR #3
5000m, Men (FINAL)	9. Russell Sullivan, 14:38.73
60m, Women (semis)	18. Alisha Netus, 8.04 / 22. Neev Agarwal, 8.65 PR #10
5000m, Women (FINAL)	22. Kylie Raymond, 19:04.04 PR
200m, Men (semis)	22. Brian Gutro, 24.03 / 24. Tyler White, 26.92
200m, Women (semis)	22. Alisha Netus, 27.01 / 26. Neev Agarwal, 29.25
4x800m, Men (FINAL)	7. (Puc, Zullo, Murphy, Caggiano), 7:51.30
4x800m, Women (FINAL)	9. (Cordasco, Tianga, Miskimins, Daniele), 10:04.30
#AUTF RESULTS - SUNDAY
800m, Women	8. Nia Holden, 2:18.39
Mile, Men	9. Oscar Counsell, 4:15.81
3000m, Men	10. Russell Sullivan, 8:29.60 PR / 16. Aidan Caggiano, 8:41.35 / 25. Alex Murphy, 9:03.86
3000m, Women	24. Rachael Potter, 10:40.44 / 27. Clare Hernandez, 10:59.88 / 30. June Mwaniki, 11:20.79
DMR, Men	4. (Reeves, Going, Puc, Zullo), 10:13.04
DMR, Women	10. (Miskimins, Daniele, Tianga, Cordasco), 13:23.11
4x400m, Men	7. (McCarthy, Going, Gutro, Puc), 3:34.47 #10
4x400m, Women	8. (Netus, Holden, Hooker, Ianello), 4:10.81 #2

TEAM RESULTS: MEN
1. Navy, 264 points
2. Army West Point, 188.5
3. Boston University, 91
4. Lehigh, 65
5. Bucknell, 47.5
6. Holy Cross, 19
7. Lafayette, 13
8. AMERICAN, 9
9. Colgate, 5

TEAM RESULTS: WOMEN
1. Navy, 202
2. Army West Point, 171
3. Boston University, 140.5
4. Bucknell, 73
5. Lehigh, 60
6. Holy Cross, 38
7. Loyola Maryland, 9
8. Lafayette, 5.5
9. AMERICAN, 2
10. Colgate, 0