LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Brant Tolsma Invitational hosted by Liberty University saw 11 members of the American University track team earn personal bests and five Eagles added their individual names to the American top-10 performance lists while one team on both the men's and women's side added their quartet of names to the 4x400m relay top-10 performance list.

• Friday night saw the first win of the event for the Eagles when senior Row Sullivan crossed the line first in the men's 5000m run in 14:47.21. They were followed up by Michael Dua in second place at 15:02.31.
• Junior June Mwaniki, who finished fifth overall in the 3000m run, was the first Eagle of the weekend to earn a spot on the top-10 indoor record books with her performance. Mwaniki's 10:12.07 finish places her at number 10 in the records. Brooke Evans earned a PR in the event, crossing the finish in 10:59.93.
• In the women's 5000m run, it was senior Rachael Potter who earned a second-place finish and a spot in the top-10 record books. Her finish in 18:21.65 slotted her into the number 10 spot on the list.
• Both competitors in the women's mile run, Callia Cordasco and Rowe Crawford, earned personal bests with their time, finishing 19th and 23rd overall.
• Nathan Reeves finished fourth in the men's mile run, earning not just a personal best, but listing himself as seventh on the top-10 performance list. This is the second week in a row that one of Reeves' performances have added him to the AU record books.
• Two more runners earned PRs in the men's one mile, Alex Murphy and Cooper Michaud who finished 15th and 24th respectively, each bested their own previous times.
• Jessica Bakas and Kirah Tianga, who competed in the women's 400m dash finished 33rd and 34th, both earning personal bests with their performances of 1:04.35 and 1:05.15.
• The men's 800m run saw more action for the day. Kaden Kluth crossed the line first in the event; his time of 1:51.45 positioning him second on the top-10 performers list. Ethan Puc, who came in fifth at 1:53.92 put himself at 10th on the top-10 list. Kluth and Puc alongside Carver Morgan, also hit personal best times in the event.
• The men's 400m relay team that consisted of Kluth, Tucker Zullo, Puc, and Morgan crossed the line third in the event, simultaneously placing themselves in third place on the school's top-10 performances list.
• In the last event of the day, the women's 4x400m relay team of Bakas, Cordasco, Lucia Ianello, and Tianga finished 16th in the event while earning the 10th place spot on American's indoor top-10 performances list for the event.

QUOTES FROM COACH GRAHAM
"Another weekend of impressive performances for both the men's and women's squads. When we're consistently re-writing our top-10 lists this early in the year, we're in a good spot.
 
"Particularly strong races by June Mwaniki in the 3000m with a new personal record and getting her name in the books, then Kaden Kluth in the 800m event going up to number two all-time already. Finally, very solid 4x400s on tired legs at the end of the meet for both squads.
 
"Back to work this week for the third of our trifecta of meets for the early season at the end of next week!"

AU RESULTS

EVENT	RESULTS
60m Dash, Women	32. Neev Agarwal, 8.90
200m Dash, Women	28. Chloee Dotts, 26:18 | 44. Jessica Bakas, 28.56 | 47. Neev Agarwal, 29.44
200m Dash, Men	21. Fernando Ibarra, 23.23 | 29. Brian Gutro, 24.44
400m Dash, Women	33. Jessica Bakas, 1:04.35 (PR) | 34. Kirah Tianga, 1:05.16 (PR) | 32. Tori Maignan, 1:09.96
400m Dash, Men	20. Ethan Horton, 55.45
800m Run, Women	14. Grace Kirk, 2:22.22 | 22. Lucia Ianello, 2:24.52 | 25. Kelsey Miskimins, 2:28.68 | 28. Cassandra Daniele, 2:34.47
800m Run, Men	1. Kaden Kluth, 1:51:45 (PR)* | 5. Ethan Puc, 1:53.92 (PR)* | 9. Carver Morgan, 1:55.12 (PR) | 14. Tucker Zullo, 1:58.73
1000m Run, Women	12. Kate Riley, 3:08.93
1000m Run, Men	5. Jack Chandler, 2:49.15
Mile Run, Women	19. Callia Cordasco, 5:19.06 (PR) | 23. Rowe Crawford, 5:21.91 (PR)
Mile Run, Men	4. Nathan Reeves, 4:09.59* (PR) | 15. Alex Murphy, 4:18.87 (PR) | 16. Oscar Counsell, 4:19.88 | 24. Cooper Michaud, 4:25.37 (PR) | 33. Danny O'Neill 4:30.48
3000m Run, Women	5. June Mwaniki, 10:12.07 (PR) | 10. Sophia Staiger, 10:35.62 | 15. Brooke Evans, 10:53.93 (PR) | 16. Annie Ripol, 10:59.00
5000m Run, Women	2. Rachael Potter, 18:21.65
5000m Run, Men	1. Row Sullivan, 14:47.21 | 2. Michael Dua, 15:02.31
4x400m Relay, Women	16. Bakas, Cordasco, Ianello, Tianga, 4:21.29 | 17. Kirk, Maignan, Miskimins, Daniele, 4:21.42
4x400m Relay, Men	3. Kluth, Zullo, Puc, Morgan, 3:28.27 | 7. Counsell, Horton, O'Neill, Gutro, 3:38.27

 
NEXT UP
The Eagles will be heading back to Virginia, this time just across the Potomac to Fairfax, where they will participate in the Patriot Games hosted by George Mason University Friday, Jan. 27-28.
 
KEEP UP WITH US
For the latest on American University Cross Country, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_TrackXC) and Instagram (@AU_TrackXC).