DUBUQUE, Iowa (Feb. 23, 2024) - The 2024 American Rivers Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships kicked off on Friday with the Buena Vista men sitting in sixth overall after five scoring events with 11 total points.

Freshman Devon Schultz highlighted the afternoon for the Beavers with a fourth-place performance in the pole vault by clearing a new personal best height of 4.30 meters. Fellow freshman Nick Walch matched the same height but took one more attempt to clear the mark and settled for seventh overall.

Sophomore Abraham Christensen scored team points with an eighth-place finish in the shot put with his new personal best heave of 15.15 meters. All three Beavers in the event set new personal best marks.

The distance medley relay team was the only scoring running event that the team competed in on the first day and placed sixth overall with a time of 10:30.42.

Zackary Huffman is currently sitting ninth overall in the heptathlon with 2,439 points and three events remaining on Saturday. Among his events on the opening day included the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.23 which was among three individuals to set a new facility mark.

Ashton Bates and John Jeanisse narrowly missed the finals by only four-hundredths of a second after crossing in 7.02 and 7.04 seconds, respectively, during the preliminary race.

Buena Vista's 11 points sit just behind Nebraska Wesleyan (15) and Simpson (16) entering the final 13 scoring events on Saturday. Action on the University of Dubuque campus is set to resume at 9 a.m.