INDIANOLA, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - On the final day of the 2015 Iowa Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Loras Track and Field program put on quite the show on its way to a third place finish on the men's side and a fourth place finish on the women's side. The Duhawks turned in nine event victories, highlight by a sweep in the 4x100 and 4x400 men's relays.

For the first time in school history, according to the Iowa Conference records, Loras swept the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in record fashion. The 4x100 team turned in a season best time of 41.58, which puts them 23rd in the country.

Three-quarters of the 4x100 team returned later in the day to capture the crown in the 4x400, which ran its way to a conference championship with a time of 3:13.75, which is .35 faster than their previous best at the Spartan Twilight. The time also goes into the Iowa Conference Record Books for best time in championship history.

In a sweep of four of the main sprints, the Duhawk men won the 100, 200, 400, and 800 races.

After a preliminary time of 10.88, senior Kyle Ward shed .04 of a second off to edge out Simpson's Dylan Kalinary for the win.

A 1-2 finish in the preliminaries from seniors Josh Goerdt and Zac Gassman set the stage for a strong finish on Saturday. This time around, though, it was Gassman who came away with the win, edging Goerdt by .06 of a second for a all-time PR of 21.88.

Looking for his third 400m title, Goerdt earned a top-seed in the race with his preliminary time of 48.91. The Dyersville native worked his magic like only he knows how, running 48.48 for the win.

Senior Zach Frey completed the sweep for Loras with yet another win in the 800. Frey set the conference championship record with a time of 1:51.59, edging out Seth Woodson of Buena Vista by .43 of a second.

On the women's side, sophomore Elizabeth Brandenburg added two more wins to her name in the pole vault and 100m hurdles.

Entering as the top seed in the pole vault, Brandenburg cleared her first three heights with ease at 3.40m, 3.55m, and 3.70m. With her final attempts, Brandenburg went for 3.86m but was unable to clear. Her mark of 3.70m was good enough for a repeat as conference champion.

After running the second best time in the preliminaries, Brandenburg turned on the after burners in Saturday's final, shedding .32 seconds off her time to win the 100m hurdles over Simpson's Bayley Fleshner. With her time of 14.35, Brandenburg now sits at 11th in Division III.

Senior Morgan Steere capped her final appearance at the Iowa Conference Championships by winning the shot put with a mark of 13.01m for her first conference championship. Despite not reaching a PR, Steere bested the rest of the field by .03m, holding off Wartburg's Kayla Hemann who took second.

With the main portion of their season now complete, a select few will turn their attention to next week's Last Chance meets at either UW-La Crosse, Augustana, or North Central. For those student-athletes not currently in the top-20, this will be their last opportunity to improve their times and earn a trip to the 2015 NCAA Division III Track & Field National Championships in Canton, New York.

Interview with Josh Goerdt



Interview with Matt Jones