GENEVA, Ill. (Sept. 10, 2022) – Getting a glimpse of the course they will race in November for the NCAA Division III Midwest Region Championship, the No. 28 Loras College men's cross country team posted a second-place finish at the Aurora University Spartan Classic on Saturday, led by fifth-year senior Luke Guttormson taking second overall and the Duhawks celebrating three top-ten finishes.

Guttormson traversed the 8-kilometer course in 26:08.8 to claim the runner-up honors and Julian Watson (26:28.8) and Carlo Dannenfelser (26:34.6) took seventh and eighth, respectively. Jacob Belha was not far behind in 11th with a time of 26:43.6 and Wyatt Kelly added a top-20 finish, placing 18th with a time of 26:55.6 to round out Loras' scoring. Will Whalen took 21st (27:01.5) and Eric Rutherford (27:16.7) finished 25th as the Duhawks' seventh-man.

No. 13-ranked North Central College took the team title with a near-perfect score of 19 points as Guttormson was the only other competitor to break the Cardinals' 1-3-4-5-6 finish. The Duhawks scored 46 points to take second and Heartland Community College finished third with 94 points.

The Duhawks will travel to the renowned National Catholic Championship on Friday, Sept. 16 at the University of Notre Dame to compete against Division I, II and III teams in a traditionally competitive race. Race time in South Bend, Ind. is set for 3:30 P.M. (ET).