Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

WAVERLY, Iowa (Mar. 7, 2021) – The No. 5-ranked Loras College men's track and field team saw two school records fall and multiple program and national top-ten performances at the 2021 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Indoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday, bringing home 15 All-Conference honors, crowning three individual champions, and earning a runner-up team finish.

The distance medley relay claimed the first All-Conference award for the Duhawks as Chris Guise, Conor Otting, Carson Vaske and Will Yasdick placed third with a time of 10:34.76 and Loras kept the momentum going with a monumental performance for freshman Evan Jamrozy in the 5,000-meter run. Jamrozy, the Duhawks' top finisher in the cross country season, placed second in the event with a time of 14:54.84, ranking sixth in program history. Luke Guttormson added another All-Conference performance in the distance events for the Duhawks, placing second in the 3,000-meter with the second-fastest time in program history (8:31.55).

The Duhawks saw two program bests fall as senior Ryan Rogers set a new Loras record in the 60-meter hurdles, placing second with a time of 8.09 seconds, improving on his own personal best by 0.08 seconds. In the 60-meter dash, junior Josh Smith followed suit and defended his conference title in the 60-meter dash in a record time of 6.83 seconds. He was the previous record holder with a time of 6.87 seconds and now sits third in Division III. Smith also added the second-fastest time in program history and a personal best in the 200-meter dash, finishing second with a time of 21.88.
Shamari Scott ran a lifetime-best in the 400-meter dash to collect All-Conference honors with a third place finish and time of 50.47 and Mike Jasa defended his title in the 800-meter run with a facility record and winning time of 1:52.45. The 4-by-800 meter relay of Otting, Wyatt Kelly, Shane McBride and Carter Oberfoell kept the relay honors coming with a third-place finish and the fifth-fastest time in program history (7:58.03) and the 4-by-400-meter relay of Smith, Scott, Jasa and Ted Kruse ran the eighth fastest time in program history (3:18.70) and placed second.

In the jumps, Loras claimed five All-Conference honors as Alex Martens tied for second in the high jump with a leap of 1.92 meters and freshman Derik Bunten made his conference debut with a runner-up finish in the triple jump, jumping the seventh-farthest distance in program history and a personal best mark of 13.60 meters. Zac Couture secured an All-Conference performance in the shot put, placing third with a heave of 14.57 meters. Rogers continued his success from the hurdles in the jumps, winning the pole vault for the second-straight year with a championship record and second-best jump in program history (4.92 meters) and claimed runner-up honors in the long jump with a leap of 7.09 meters.

The hosts and No. 1 Wartburg College won the meet with 172 points while the Duhawks posted 158 and Central College scored 112. The University of Dubuque finished fourth with 77 points, edging Nebraska Wesleyan University in fifth with 75 points while Luther College (45.50), Simpson College (42), Buena Vista University (15.50) and Coe College (4) rounded out the standings.

"We performed well across the board today but it came down to a few extra points in events in Wartburg's favor," said head coach Matt Jones '05. "We still have a lot to be proud of--Ryan and Josh both had school records and we had some of our freshmen like Evan and Derik excel in their first conference meets with top-ten performances. I know the team wanted to win this one today, but I am still very pleased with what our team did and it sets us up well going into next weekend's meet as well as the outdoor season."
 
The Duhawks await the final national seeds for the Division III Elite Championship, back at Hoover Fieldhouse at Wartburg, on Mar. 12 and 13, in lieu of the canceled NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championship. The top-16 individuals and top-12 relays, as verified by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) will compete at the two-day event.