Moon, Murray break school records on Friday

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Simpson College men's and women's indoor track and field teams combined for 18 top-10 finishes highlighted by two record-breaking performances from Spencer Moon and James Murray on Friday while competing at two meets.

While the majority of the team traveled to Lincoln, Neb. for the Prairie Wolf Invitational, the duo Moon and Harry Dudley went east to race against those at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational hosted by Iowa. No team scores were kept at either meet.

"Our team showed a lot of competitiveness today," said head coach Aaron Fuller. "We saw two school records get broken as well as many personal and season bests set today".

At the Larry Wieczorek Invite, Moon broke his own school record and placed fourth in the 3,000-meter run behind Wisconsin's Seth Hirsch and Iowa's Nick Trattner and Noah Healy. Moon, who owned the program's previous top time of 8:34.45, crossed the finish line in 8:18.61, edging Wartburg's Joe Freiburger (8:19.33) for the fastest time in the American Rivers Conference this season.

Along with Moon, Harry Dudley also set a new personal best while running the 3,000-meter in Iowa City. The fifth-year senior placed seventh with a time of 8:37.73, nearly 13 seconds faster than his previous best run of 8:50.54. He now ranks second all-time behind Moon.

Murray had Simpson's second record-breaking performance of the day. In his first time competing in the 1,000-meter run, the freshman from Australia broke hall of famer Dave Halferty's 1990 school record of 2:33.35 with a time of 2:32.41, which earned third place at Nebraska Wesleyan's home invite.

"James' race in the 1,000-meter today was fantastic," said Fuller. "He showed a lot of excitement to compete and ran a very tough race."

Brody Wirtz also turned in a third place finish for the men in Lincoln after clocking a 1:36.07 in the 600-meter dash. Ryan Courtney set a new personal-best in the mile while placing fourth, Blake DePhillips edged his PR in the 400-meters to place seventh, and Noah Nelsen finished ninth in the 3000-meter run after erasing almost 18 seconds off his previous career-best.

The women's team had four top-10 finishes on the day led by Aaliyah Johnson who placed sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.50 meters. Isabella Mertens shaved almost six seconds off her PR in the 400-meter dash to come in eighth, and Angel Schewe finished ninth in the 800-meters with a time of 2:37.95. In the mile, Emma Angus placed seventh after taking over 12 seconds off her season-best.

"Emma's mile was a race that showed a lot of determination, which was exciting to see from her," said Fuller.

Up Next
The two teams make the short trip to Grinnell on Jan. 29 for the Grinnell Invitational.

Women's Meet Report - Prairie Wolf Invitational
60 - 12. Aryss Forbes, 8.62
200 - 18. Aryss Forbes, 28.38
400 - 8. Isabella Mertens, 1:14.33
800 - 9. Angel Schewe, 2:37.95
1000 - 13. Paige Nygaard, 4:11.93
Mile - 7. Emma Angus, 5:31.09 | 14. Emily Erhardt, 5:48.85 | 15. Teghan Booth, 5:51.26 | 17. Ashley Rockhold, 5:56.49 | 20. Mackenzie Laughlin, 5:59.33
3000 - 12. Sophie Hall, 11:42.50 | 13. Kaya Young, 11:46.85 | 15. Macie Bopp, 11:56.53
60 hurdles - 14. Aaliyah Johnson, 11.22
High jump - 6. Aaliyah Johnson, 1.50m
Shot put - 14. Sydney McCarron, 10.13m | 17. Alexis Crozier, 9.35m

Men's Meet Report - Prairie Wolf Invitational
60 hurdles - 7. Brenden Godbout, 8.83 (8.81q) | Clarke Latcham, 9.35 | Tyler Williams, 9.90
200 - 18. Tyler Williams, 25.76
400 - 7. Blake DePhillips, 55.12
600 - 3. Brody Wirtz, 1:36.07
800 - 7. Cade Mash, 2:08.68
1000 - 3. James Murray, 2:32.41 | 8. Adam Gruhn, 2:40.43
Mile - 4. Ryan Courtney, 4:22.57 | 11. Andrew Klein, 4:29.61 | 15. Ean Warrick, 4:39.90 | 24. Corbin Truitt, 4:50.23 | 28. Hank Gardner, 5:00.30 | 30. Miles Combs, 5:03.53 | 31. Akol Atack, 5:03.72
3000 - 9. Noah Nelsen, 8:53.70 | 12. Shane Breheny, 9:09.27 | 13. Jason White, 9:13.47 | 14. Louden Foster, 9:17.94 | 17. Marc Medici, 9:31.23 | 19. Blake Croushore, 9:50.95
4x400 - 5. Blake DePhillips, Ulysses Patterson, Cade Mash, Ean Warrick, 3:41.33 | 6. Clarke Latcham, Brenden Godbout, Adam Gruhn, Brody Wirtz, 3:41.46
Long jump - 6. Carter Berkey, 6.39m | 7. Ulysses Patterson, 6.21m

Men's Meet Report - Larry Wieczorek Invitational
3000 - 4. Spencer Moon, 8:18.61 | 7. Harry Dudley, 8:37.73