AZUSA, Calif. -- April 15, 2017 -- Two veteran distance runners set Chadron State College records in the 5000 meters late Thursday afternoon during the Distance Carnival at Azusa Pacific University in southern California.

Senior Alejandro Garcia of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., won his heat that included 33 runners from 11 states and Costa Rica in 14:29.50.  That's almost exactly 20 seconds faster than what was the second oldest Chadron State track and field record.  The former record of 14:49.60 set by Lue Graesser, a native of Springview, Neb., in 1975.

Garcia's previous best time of 15:03.42 in the 5000 was set a year ago while the Eagles were visiting California. His new time is a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division II National Outdoor Championships in late May. 

The second CSC record was set by junior Nicky Banzhaf of Chadron, who ran the 5000 in 17:34.76 to knock off about eight seconds from the CSC mark that she posted last April in California. Banzhaf's finish would have been the ninth-best in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference entering the week, and only 13 seconds off the pace for provisional qualification.

She placed sixth among the 33 entries in her heat.

Both Garcia and Banzhaf also hold the Eagles' 10,000-meter records.

Altogether, there were 242 men and 229 women entered in the 5000 at this year's Distance Carnival, where runners from across the country converge in hopes of setting records and qualifying for national meets by taking advantage of the low altitude and under ideal weather conditions. Each of the genders was divided into eight heats.                   

Several other Chadron State runners had personal bests in the 5000 at the Distance Carnival. They included sophomores Eric Yager of Hot Springs, S.D., and Levi Avila of Mitchell, whose times of 15:16.91 and 15:21.94, respectively, were 28 seconds faster than their previous bests.  In addition, freshman Riley Howard of Anchorage, Alaska, finished the race just 1.22 seconds behind Avila, topping his previous best this season by 40 seconds.

Two Chadron State women besides Banzhaf also ran the 5000 on Thursday.  Maggie Vinton of North Platte had a time of 18:34.04, her season-best by 33 seconds, and Taylor Allison of Gordon completed the race in 18:41.91, her career-best by 39 seconds.

CSC distance coach Brian Medigovich said he was pleased with his athletes' performances in the long-distance races. 

On Friday evening, three of the four men who ran the 5000 on Thursday, plus Taylor Dick, Kyle Dietsche, and freshman Colin Erickson, of Bassett, Nebraska, took aim at the mid-distance 1500 meter run.

Five of the six CSC men ran lifetime bests in the 1500 meter race, beginning with Garcia who improved by two and one-half seconds to finish in a time of 3:54.24. Only one-third of a second behind his teammate, sophomore Levi Avila was next for the Eagles in 3:54.57, knocking more than eight seconds off his former best. The pair were No. 114 and No. 118 to cross the finish line out of a crowded field of 277.

Dietsche was just shy of six seconds better than his personal best, finishing in 4:00.88, while Yager's time of 4:03.06 was his fastest by nearly seven seconds.

Dick recorded a time of 4:11.92, edging his own PR by more than a second, and Erickson crossed in 4:17.25.

Also on Friday morning, at Long Beach State University, Dylan Stansbury ran a 10,000-meter time of 32:26.82, just ahead of coach Medigovich at 32:27.52. They were ninth and 10th, respectively out of 17 runners.

A set of CSC throwers competes Saturday at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.