GULF SHORES, Ala. – Linus Rueegger represented Bushnell University well on Friday, closing out the Beacons' 2021-2022 athletic year at the NAIA National Championship.
 
Entering as the No. 18 seed for the race, Rueegger finished in 14th-place, coming in at 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 51 seconds. It was the second-fastest time in school history and only missed his own school-record by 39 seconds.  
 
Rueegger opened up in the lead pack and stayed there for the first five miles of the 13.2 mile trek. Head Coach Tom Boldon said, "I was really pleased that Linus stuck to our strategy and got out with the leaders and even after falling off the pack, continued to work hard and cut down a few places late in the race. His training going into the race went really well, including a three-week acclimatization plan for the heat and humidity."
 
Linus finishes the year as the only Bushnell student-athlete to compete at two NAIA championships, having also been a scoring member of the men's cross country team in the fall.
 
I am really grateful to get to represent Bushnell at the national level," said Rueegger, "and I know next year we will be down here with a bigger crew. The race itself was certainly testing. There were a few twists and turns that didn't go my way and I'll definitely use that as fuel to gear up for another go at nationals next year. I am thankful to my parents, coaches, teammates, and the administration at Bushnell for supporting me through this experience and I can't wait to be back."
 
"A true competitor always wants more," added Boldon, "but I am really proud of what he did this year. He wanted to experience races this season from 1500 to 10000m on the track in his first collegiate season. We know if we had just focused on the marathon training, he might have had more recovery time between races, which gives us a solid plan for next year."