BETHANY, W.V.­ – Franciscan University's track and field program continued to raise its standards with a successful showing at their third meet of the season at Bethany College. The day was full of personal records and strong performances across the whole team.

"We plan to work and we work to plan and that is exactly what happened today," head coach Vince Oliver said. "What an incredible day for our program and for our team, with lots of PRs and good progress."

The biggest success came from sophomore Brian Tullier. In Tullier's first round of shotput, Oliver said he had his worst throw of the season. His second throw was scratched because of a misplaced foot. It was not until his third, when he threw one that successfully placed him in the finals, that Oliver saw him improve.

"The judge scratched him in his second throw because that is the rule and that's integrity and because that's respect for the game," Oliver said. "It made Brian mad enough for the moment that it changed his mood for the day and he went on to shatter his PR on consecutive throws."

Tullier placed third in shot put with a throwing distance of 12.6 meters for his PR.

"Brian gets better every week," Oliver said. "He works hard. He is dedicated and he makes sacrifices and that's why this is happening for him. That's why this is happening for everyone."

As Oliver said, it was a great day for not only Tullier, but also the entire team.

Junior Allison Huelseman also PRed. She placed fourth in the 5k and fifth in the 1500 with a time of 5:18.99. Junior Jessican LeClerc also PRed in the 200 meter dash.

"Jess had a fantastic day," Oliver said. "She works her tail off every day and today it paid off for her. She keeps coming and keeps working."

There were several other notable performances from the women's side. Freshman Susanna Almedia and senior Jane Crosby were strong in the 400 meter dash, coming in fifth and sixth respectively with times of 1:05.52 and 1:06.24.

Junior Elena Luke ran her 800 in 2:37.08 and placed eighth. The 4x100 relay (sophomore Hannah Cooke, junior Hailey Downard, Almedia and Luke) had a solid run, running a 54.25 and placing fourth.

For the men, junior David Willems placed fourth in the 10K with a time of 37:18.40.

"You can't beat that," Oliver said. "That's a good day for everybody. That's something for all of us to feed off of. There are a lot of better things coming. We have to keep working and there is more of this coming."

Oliver said he looks forward to the nicer weather approaching, with consistent warmth for the teams to run in. They will race next at the Westminster Invitation and All-Ohio Meet on Saturday April 12.

"Our next few meets are competitive so we have to get competitive with it," Oliver said. "We have to get out of our comfort zones with everything that we do and be better than we've ever been. We are Barons and we are athletes."