The track and field season is off to an award-winning start for Valparaiso University fifth-year senior Alexander Bruno (Bloomington, Ill. / University).

Bruno, a two-time all-conference performer in cross country and a member of the 2016 Horizon League indoor all-league squad in track & field, added to his long list of achievements on Tuesday as he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Male Track Athlete of the Week. In the process, he became the first Valpo track & field athlete to earn an MVC weekly award since the University joined the Missouri Valley Conference, a lofty achievement in a prestigious track & field conference.

Bruno began the 2020 slate by shattering a pair of records at the Bill Clinger Classic on Saturday at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. He bested his own school record in the indoor mile with a winning time of 4:08.97, then established a new Valpo mark in the indoor 800-meter run, winning that race at 1:52.93. That time was nearly two seconds better than Nate Nunnelly’s program record of 1:54.79, which had stood since 2003.

Valpo will be back in action on Saturday as the team competes in the John Gartland Invitational in Terre Haute.