RALEIGH, N.C. - Three members of the IUPUI men's track team registered new personal bests as select Jaguars participated in the Raleigh Relays, hosted by NC State on Thursday night (Mar. 24). All five entries competed in the 5,000m event as entrants were spread among 10 races.

Eric Petersen was the Jaguars' top performer overall, placing tenth in his race in a time of 14:30.36 for a lifetime personal best. He took 23 seconds off his prior best on the outdoor track and less than a second off his lifetime best. In the same race, Nate Kaiser clocked an outdoor best time of 14:46.90, taking two seconds off his prior best. 

Petersen ultimately finished 107th of more than 240 entries in the event and his time was fourth-best in program history. 

Earlier in the meet, Mitchell Rans spun an outdoor best time of 14:45.57, placing 13th in his race. Alex Ratkovich pulled up after 3,000m and was unable to finish. 

IUPUI's final entry of the day, Eric Hoffman, spun a time of 15:17.71 in his race. 

"I'm proud of our guys who went out there and competed against some of the best of the best," said Chuck Koeppen, who accompanied the group on the trip. "Petersen and Kaiser were really tough in their race and I thought Rans did a good job out there as well. These guys have all been working hard and training hard, so it's nice to see them rewarded. 

"All in all, this was a great start to the outdoor season."

The full IUPUI team will return to action on Saturday, Apr. 2 when the Jaguars compete in Cincinnati's Oliver Nikoloff Invitational.