YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The IUPUI men's track team saw its distance-laden crew perform well on day one of the Horizon League Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday (Feb. 25) at Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) on the Youngstown State campus. Jaguars took four of the top seven spots in the 5,000m event, led by Andrew Whitinger, stacking up 17 points in that event alone. 

Both YSU's Hunter Christopher and Whitinger went under the previous facility and Horizon League records with Christopher earning the win at 14:08.97. Whitinger crossed at 14:13.92, clearing third-place by nearly three seconds. 

Eric Petersen was fifth with a personal best time of 14:20.89 and Mitchell Gits placed sixth in a personal best time of 14:28.40. Nick Perkins also registered a new personal record time of 14:32.48, placing seventh. Jack Acton also had a new personal best time of 14:53.79. 

"It was a great day for the Jags. Eric Petersen took the race out hard and really set the race up well for us to race fast and place high," Whitinger said. "I'm really happy with my personal performance as well, being my best Horizon League performance. I've been building towards a track podium for four years, so it feels good to accomplish that personal goal. 

"I'm super proud of the way all the guys ran - 13 for 13 good races. I'm excited to roll this momentum into day two tomorrow."

IUPUI also broke its school record in the distance medley relay, placing fourth in a time of 10:05.01 in an incredibly exciting affair. Will Clark, Connor Murphy, Noah Price and Luke Shappell took seven seconds off the previous best record against a stout field that saw the top four teams separated by less than a second. 

Earlier in the day, Alex Alba ran a season-best 800m time of 1:56.16 and freshman Jay Pillai put up a personal best time of 1:56.51. 

The Jaguars will seek to continue its strong efforts on Sunday (Feb. 25) on day two of the championships.