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

DES MOINES, Iowa (Apr. 30, 2022) – Records fell and history was made over the weekend for the No. 28-ranked Loras College men's track and field team as the Duhawks found a plethora of success at the Drake Relays with the 4-by-800-meter relay winning the program's first relays' championship since 1989 and slaying school records over the course of the three-day meet. The Duhawks also sent squads to Simpson College's Kip Janvrin Invite and the Grand View University Viking Classic for a busy weekend in Des Moines.

Mike Jasa finished second in the 800-meter run in the first race of the weekend at the Blue Oval, running 1:50.41 to move up to No. 5 in Division III and finish as the top Division III runner in the field.  Jasa then teamed up with Carter Oberfoell, Ryan Harvey, and Wyatt Kelly to take down the national record in the 4-by-800-meter relay early Friday morning, anchoring the Duhawks' squad that ran 7:28.23 to become the first Drake Relays champions since the sprint medley relay of Kevin Shetler, Tim Keane, Barry Harris and John Ondande in 1989. The Division III record was previously held by Amherst College, set in 2014 (7:33.28). The record setting continued in the evening as Derik Bunten, Ted Kruse, Dayvion Foreman and Josh Smith set the school record in the 4-by-200-meter relay, running 1:26.96 to take sixth overall and the distance medley relay crew of Kelly, Kruse, Jasa and Harvey broke a 51-year old school record in the distance medley relay on Saturday morning, running 9:54.45 to take second as the top Division III relay, only finishing just over a second behind champion Augustana University (S.D).

Joey Schultz raced in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday night in the unseeded field, running the eighth-fastest time in program history of 30:51.35, taking ninth overall. The 4-by-100-meter relay crew of Smith, Bunten, Foreman and Doyle Carroll ran the tenth-fastest time in program history with a 41.92, finishing 13th in the prelims and the 4-by-400-meter relay of Smith, Kruse, Oberfoell and Jasa ran 3:13.58, the eighth-fastest in program history and third in Division III, in the prelims, advancing to the finals and running 3:19.64 to place sixth.

At Grand View, Carroll ran the fifth-fastest time in program history in the 100-meter dash, clocking 10.79, finishing just outside the top-three in fifth, and Carson Vaske finished second in the 200-meter dash, running 23.30. In the field events, Matt Bandy hit the 2.00 meter mark to take second in the high jump and rank 16th in Division III this season. Raymond Venditti finished third with a jump of 1.90 meters. Venditti also won the pole vault, clearing 4.20 meters and Logan Jones finished second (4.05 meters). Holden Murphy had a massive throw in the hammer throw to place second, launching the hammer 53.79 meters which is good for third in program history. Neal Eckhoff finished third, throwing 50.33 meters.

The Duhawks return home for a final tune-up ahead of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Championship for the Dr. Tucker Open on Friday, May 6. Field events are set to begin at 11 A.M. with track events starting at 2 P.M.