PELLA, Iowa — The Knox College men's and women's track and field teams opened their outdoor season on Friday at the Central Invitational hosted by Central College, and three athletes performed well enough to etch their names into the Prairie Fire top-10 performers list by the end of the meet.

Junior Lance Miller just missed out on the gold in the men's 5000 meters, crossing the tape in 15:42.46, less than half a second behind William Penn's D'Artagnon Beaver. Miller's time is the sixth fastest in Knox history, and he will be looking to shave a bit more than 16 seconds off that time to beat the school record before the end of the season.

Sophomore Stephanie Nelson, fresh off setting the Knox program record in the weight throw during the indoor season, heaved the hammer 38.18 meters (125 feet 3 inches), good for 11th place in the meet. That distance also is the fourth longest in Prairie Fire history.

And in the men's 100 meters, first-year Jayvon Bolds placed 16th in 10.96 seconds, making him just the ninth runner at Knox to ever break 11 seconds. His time tied him for eighth all-time, and shaving just three-hundredths of a second would elevate him to sixth.

Other solid performances came from sophomore Cecilia Goodin in the women's 1500 meters (5:27.59, 12th), first year Ryan Lautzenheiser in the men's 400 meters (56.94, 13th) and senior Jacob Anderson in the men's 110 meter hurdles (16.48 seconds, 14th).

The track and field teams will be back in action next Saturday, April 5 at Augustana College for the Viking Olympics.