LOUISVILLE, Ky. - IUPUI freshman Luke Shappell broke the program's 800m school record to highlight the men's track team's efforts at Bellarmine's Jim Vargo Invitational on Friday (Apr. 5). Shappell clocked a third-place time of 1:53.01 in his heat of the 800m event to shave nearly a full second off IUPUI Hall of Famer Robert Murphy's previous mark. Shappell was one of eight Jaguars to record a new personal best on Friday. 

"The goal was to go out there and compete and see what I could run, but breaking the school record and running a personal best was beyond exciting," Shappell said. "I'm so grateful for the opportunity and all the gifts God has given me that allowed me to race how I did."

Shappell had already put his named among IUPUI's all-time leaders in the 1,500m event this outdoor season before breaking the 800m record. Behind his third-place effort, fellow freshman Noah Price ran a personal best time of 1:59.86 and senior Alex Alba ran 2:00.50. 

Earlier in the day in the 1,500m event, Will Clark led the way with a personal best time of 3:58.00 and Price was just off his pace at 4:06.59. Solomon Barket finished at 4:08.48 and Connor Murphy spun a time of 4:16.40. New roster additional Ethan Walsh made his IUPUI debut on Friday with a personal best 1,500m time of 4:18.78, eclipsing his prior best by five seconds.

All four of IUPUI's entries in the 3,000m steeplechase set new personal bests, paced by Jack Acton's third-place finish of 9:38.60, taking 15 seconds off his prior best. Nolan King shaved 11 seconds off his prior best at 9:52.39 and Jay Pillai took 22 seconds off his former best at 10:04.57. Nic Probst also set a new personal best, running 10:05.00 to take 14 seconds off his previous best mark. 

Later in the evening, Grant Moon led IUPUI's entries in the 5,000m event with a time of 14:48.29, placing fifth overall. Behind him, Mitchell Rans clocked a time of 14:54.22. 

The Jaguars will return to action next weekend when they send selected athletes to California for either the Bryan Clay Invitational or Leopard Distance Carnival.