RICHMOND, Va. – The American University track team opened their season at the Richmond Fred Hardy Invitational on Friday (Mar. 20). Sophomore Daniel Messer started the day and his season strong, winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a 31-second personal best of 9:15.54 to move up to fourth AU all-time. He won by nearly 20 seconds, establishing a Patriot League top time for his season opener.

• Freshman Shealyn Brochu ran her 1500 debut in 4:36.77, placing fifth. Freshman Charlotte Orr also ran a strong debut of 4:47.61.
• Sophomore Zack Zerbe placed fifth in the men's 1500 with a PR of 3:57.17. Close behind was sophomore Ty Parker in a PR of 3:59.70.
• Freshmen Daden Grogan and Emmett Engelhardt both ran just off their PRs in the 800, with Grogan placing fourth in 1:52.74 and Engelhardt placing fifth in 1:53.33.
• Sophomore Zoe Rector ran a lifetime personal best of 17:57.66 to place seventh in the event. She improved her collegiate PR by 15 seconds.
• Sophomores Jaden Frederick and Noah Smith finished 1-2 in the 5k, both running just off their personal bests — Frederick ran 15:00.17 and Smith ran 15:01.65.

View the full results here.

Coaches' Corner
"We had a very good outdoor opener on Friday," said head coach Sean Graham. "The team carried their aggressive racing habits from indoor right into the outdoor season and got both good times and execution out of the day.

"Daniel Messer kicked the day off with a phenomenal opener in the steeple, winning by a landslide. Running a time that would have scored at the outdoor championships already for his first one is a great place to start. Zoe Clark had a very solid day of racing, winning her heats of the 400 and 200, as did Greg Celariste in the 100 and 200. Freshman Daden Grogan and Emmett Englehardt had solid first runs at the outdoor 800, right around both of their PRs. Zack Zerbe and Shealyn Brochu competed very well in rather tactical first 1500s, both coming out with PRs, and Zack just missed the win by a lean. We closed out the day very well with a nice PR from Zoe Rector in the women's 5k, dipping under 18 minutes for the first time. She was followed by Jaden Frederick and Noah Smith going 1-2 in the men's 5k, pushing hard from the front after a more controlled first half.

"All in all it was a very good way to start. Heat wins, event wins, a few PRs set us up well this early."

Next Up
A small crew will head to the Raleigh Relays at NC State next weekend (Mar. 27-29).

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AU RESULTS

3000m Steeplechase, Men	1. Daniel Messer, 9:15.54 (PR)*
1500m, Women	5. Shealyn Brochu, 4:36.77 (PR) | 13. Charlotte Orr, 4:47.61 (PR) | 21. Kara Langbaum, 4:52.41 | 27. Kate Riley, 4:54.94 | 35. Scarlett Lestina, 5:00.27
1500m, Men	5. Zack Zerbe, 3:57.17 (PR) | 18. Ty Parker, 3:59.70 (PR) | 28. Noah Smith, 4:03.28 | 31. Barak Goldstein, 4:04.43
400m, Women	5. Zoe Clark, 57.62 | 44. Hannah Puckett, 1:06.29 | 45. Adeline DiPaolo, 1:07.41
400m, Men	27. Owen Garrett, 53.42 (PR)
100m, Women	4. Tamara Dorval, 12.57 | 9. Lilia Jones, 12.74* | 26. Chloee Dotts, 13.20
100m, Men	21. Jason Omari-Anim, 11.31 | 25. Gregory Celariste, 11.43 | 40. Alex Zenit, 11.89 | 48. James Soergel, 12.11
800m, Women	5. Shealyn Brochu, 2:16.66 | 17. Charlotte Orr, 2:21.91 | 26. Kara Langbaum, 2:27.50 | 29. Scarlett Lestina, 2:28.87
800m, Men	4. Daden Grogan, 1:52.74 | 5. Emmett Engelhardt, 1:53.33 | 11. Ty Parker, 1:58.17 | 13. Papakojo Danquah, 1:58.55 | 24. Barak Goldstein, 1:59.82 | 27. Zack Zerbe, 2:01.45
200m, Women	3. Zoe Clark, 25.33 | 37. Lilia Jones, 26.73 | 63. Adeline DiPaolo, 28.23
200m, Men	9. Gregory Celariste, 22.17* | 39. Alex Zenit, 23.56 | 46. James Soergel, 24.05 | 55. Owen Garrett, 24.45
5000m, Women	7. Zoe Rector, 17:57.66 (PR) | 14. Annie Ripol, 18:29.61 | 18. Estella Miller, 19:04.07 | 19. Lydia Drago, 19:06.73 | 23. Fiona Murphy, 19:57.82
5000m, Men	1. Jaden Frederick, 15:00.17 | 2. Noah Smith, 15:01.65 | 16. Jack Chandler, 16:22.16

*Top 10 Record Book Mark