LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The IUPUI men's track and field team opened its indoor season on Friday (Jan. 21) at the Bellarmine Open, notching 12 personal bests in the first meet of the season. Freshman James Kuisel notched a new school record in the 400m event and Nate Kaiser collected a win in the 3,000m event to highlight the day's efforts. 

"Today was a great starting point for the team. It's easy to get complacent after such a strong fall cross country performance, but today indicated the fact our guys never settled this winter and got after it," head coach Justin Roeder said. "In addition, it was great to see so many athletes wear the IUPUI jersey for the first time this year."

An old standby Eric Hoffman kicked off the day with a strong effort in the mile, clocking a time of 4:18.19 to finish seventh overall as part of a tough double. Josh Everetts chalked up a time of 4:38.01 and Keith Bye crossed at 4:39.39. 

A school record went down in the 400 when freshman James Kuisel spun a time of 50.51 to place third overall. 

"As a freshman there is always a steep learning curve, but he knows how to turn on the race day mindset, which was fun to witness," Roeder said of Kuisel's IUPUI debut. 

Both Hoffman and Kuisel doubled back in the 800 with the former crossing second at 1:57.92 and the latter posting a time of 2:04.22. 

"Hoffman pulled off a tough double," Roeder said. "His leadership over the past five years has been instrumental to the program's development."

In the 200, Awaal Adedokun clocked a time of 24.42 in his collegiate debut. 

The men's day ended with a strong showing in the 3,000m event as the Jaguars took the top three spots and flooded the race with entrants. 

Nate Kaiser took the tape in a time of 8:34.52, followed by Eric Petersen at 8:37.25 and Grant Moon at 8:40.95. All three posted new personal bests, as did Mitchell Rans at 8:46.38 to finish sixth and Will Clark at 8:46.55 in seventh-place. 

"Kaiser, Petersen and Moon all ran a textbook race in the 3K. We knew it'd be tactical through the halfway point, but when they made their move, they made a statement," Roeder said. "It was great to see them all where they left off last fall."

"The plan today was to not take the lead no matter the pace, until later in the race, and really emphasize championship racing conditions," Kaiser said. "We went out pretty slow for the first mile and then closed hard. Our guys looked great all around and it was a nice rust buster to prepare for a fast Notre Dame meet in a couple weeks."

The Jags will be back in action in two weeks when selected athletes will participate in the prestigious Meyo Invitational in South Bend and others will compete in the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville.