AZUSA, Calif. – After spending nearly 14 hours at Azusa Pacific University's Bryan Clay Invitational, Montana State University Billings track and field runners Ase Ackerman and Kailee Stoppel capped off the team's three-day trip to California on a high note.
 
Running under the lights, the junior distance runners set personal bests in the 1,500 meters. Both rank second all-time at MSUB: Ackerman's 3:54.03 is less than three seconds off the school record, while Stoppel's 4:45.13 was an 11-second personal best.
 
"I am really proud of how the team took advantage of three great days of competition," MSUB assistant coach Kevin Bjerke said. "It was also very nice to see a lot of GNAC competition that we rarely get a chance to see outside of the GNAC Championships."
 
The Yellowjackets' final day in California would end up being the longest. Since the Bryan Clay Invitational was running hours behind schedule, Ackerman, Stoppel and Logan Straus – who ended up running the 1,500 later than everyone else – ended up racing well after 10 p.m. local time. This meant the 'Jackets had to sit through the bulk of the 61 heats of the 1,500 that took place on Friday night, watch as heat after heat of competitive races went off and bide their time. In Ackerman's words, it was nerve-wracking.
 
"I was feeling pretty anxious all day waiting to get to go to the meet," Ackerman said. "Once we got to the track today and saw some amazingly fast times, I was so nervous and ready to go."
 
Racing in heat 11 of the Men's Open A section, Ackerman's heat of the 1,500 ran the first two laps in a tight, yet wide pack, with several runners swinging out to lanes three and four in efforts to make moves on lap one. Seeing the pack bunch up like it did in the early phases of the race, Ackerman hung tight in last place and kept up with the group, conserving his energy by not running extra distance on the outside.
 
"The race went out pretty conservatively, so I just sat behind the pack for the first half and ran the least distance on the inside rail," Ackerman said. "Once we got to the 800 meter mark, I passed a few guys and held my position until the last 200 meters where I got bumped around."
 
Ackerman made his first move on the third turn, reached the middle of the pack around the 700-meter mark and then got boxed in. As he made his way down the home stretch before the bell lap, Ackerman found an opening along the inside and started to move up. At the bell lap, Ackerman sat in eighth, then he made a move with 200 meters to go. Once the pack fanned out of the turn and into the home stretch, Ackerman passed a wall of four runners running neck and neck in lane three and finished in third place.
 
"I regrouped and made a big push to pass four or five guys in the last 100 meters and it felt really good," Ackerman said. "It felt good to come back from a tough race yesterday and end the trip on a high note."
 
His 3:54.03 is the second-fastest time in school history and is less than three seconds away from MSUB Athletics Hall of Famer Robert Peterson's school record of 3:51.58. Only five Yellowjacket men have gone sub-4 in the 1,500 meters.
 
As Ackerman finished his race, Stoppel was preparing for hers. In fact, Stoppel's race almost didn't happen. After setting lifetime PRs in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the outdoor 800 meters on back-to-back days, competing in the 1,500 meters on Friday night was a decision for her to make after warming up. During her warmup, Stoppel saw Ackerman's 1,500-meter finish and found inspiration from it.
 
"I was warming up when he was racing," Stoppel said. "I watched his awesome finish, going all the way out into lane three, and that definitely hyped me up for my race."
 
When her race went off, Stoppel followed a similar race plan. Tucking in on the rail as several runners tried making moves in lane three, Stoppel bided her time, picked off a Concordia runner after lane one, then held her position for the next 200 meters. As the pack swung out into the home stretch, Colorado's Bailey Nock and Stoppel tried swinging out into lane three to make a move. Nock cut Stoppel off and made an aggressive move out into the front for the bell lap. Stoppel was in seventh.
 
But she flipped the switch in the final lap.
 
On the penultimate turn, she moved from seventh to fourth as Nock threatened to gap the field with a 10-meter lead. Stoppel climbed into third heading into the final 200 meters. While Nock and Costa Rica's Andrea Calvo Castillo looked like they hit a wall, Stoppel opened up her stride heading into the home stretch. She kicked in the final 100 meters relatively unchallenged and won the heat in a 4:45.13 – an 11-second personal best.
 
"The race was pretty fun," Stoppel said. "I felt totally controlled and then I went after it. I wasn't really planning on racing it, but I'm very glad I did."
 
Of the 86 runners in the Women's Open B 1,500 heats, Stoppel's time was the 12^th-fastest. The 11 runners ahead of her ran in the fastest two heats.
 
"The evening 1500s went really well," Bjerke added. "I think everyone was a bit nervous about running on tired legs, but the perfect conditions and atmosphere with solid fields really aided some gutsy performances."
 
Earlier at the meet, Forrest Cross and Ryann Moline threw in two events for the third time in three days. Moline placed fifth in her javelin flight and 19^th overall with a 35.91m (117-9) mark, then nearly set a new personal best with a 38.60m (126-7) toss in the discus to place third in her flight. Cross, meanwhile, placed fourth in his flight of the discus with a 43.31m (142-1) toss – his fourth-best mark of the year.
 
"It was good to see Ryann and Forrest get in a solid series in the discus today after several days of throwing," Bjerke said. "Three long days at three different meets is a lot to ask of them, but their energy remained high and they got something accomplished today."
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Ase Ackerman and Kailee Stoppel were named the St. Vincent Healthcare Athletes of the Meet for running the second-fastest 1,500 meter times in program history.
• Logan Straus also ran the 1,500 meters in a 4:10.20
• The six individuals who competed in California this week combined to set eight new all-time top 10 marks and hit one NCAA DII provisional mark, thanks to Carson Jessop's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB will head to Helena for Carroll College's Trudnowski Open on April 21-22. Meet schedules and information will be updated to the men's and women's track and field team's schedule page on msubsports.com in the coming days.