Jan. 22, 2023 – There's a lot of get excited about in the Loras College track and field men's camp after this weekend as the Duhawks won their second meet in as many weeks at the University of Dubuque Kenneth "Moco" Mercer Open while a quartet of runners held their own at the University of Iowa's Larry Wieczorek Invitational.

The Duhawks claimed six event victories at UD Saturday to help them rack up 208 points, easily surpassing the Spartans who finished as the runners-up at 89 points.

Senior sprinter Josh Smith helped lead to way with a winning time of 22.16 in the 200 meters as he was top out of an impressive 1-2-3-4-5 finish for Loras. Smith also paced the field during the 60 meter prelims with a 6.89 before he laid down that same time in the finals to place second to William Penn University's Showalter Johnson.

Freshman Matt Marcum put his potential on display again in the 600 meters, clocking a winning time of 1:25.29 to lead a 1-2-3 for Loras. He was joined atop the podium by junior Carlo Dannenfelser, who led the way with a victory in the mile with a 4:19.48. Dannenfelser and sophomore Jacob Belha pulled away from the field for a 1-2 finish as Belha was a mere four one-hundredths of a second behind his teammate.

Senior Ray Venditti helped lead Loras' field efforts as he soared to a win in the pole vault with a 4.85-meter mark that moves him to third all-time in program history. In addition to that victory, he also placed second in the high jump to teammate Matt Bandy as the senior cleared a 1.98-meter bar on his first attempt to win.

Finally, junior Derik Bunten went longest in the long jump with a 6.92-meter mark, giving him three wins in that event in as many attempts in 2022-23.

With a runner-up finish in the weight throw, junior Holden Murphy set a school-record with his 17.69-meter toss. Murphy's previous career-best of 17.43 meters was the second-best mark in history, but his new mark now exceeds a 17.47-meter mark from Nick McWilliams in 2008. 

Four Duhawk runners traveled to Iowa City on Saturday as well, headlined by senior Mike Jasa's race-winning effort in the Hawkeye Pro 800 meters. Jasa clocked a 1:50.06 to beat out the University of Northern Iowa's Drake Hanson by over a second while a Duhawk teammate in senior Carter Oberfoell placed third with a 1:51.71.

Junior Ryan Harvey placed ninth in the Hawkeye Pro mile with a 4:09.41 while senior Wyatt Kelly clocked a 4:12.37 to place seventh in the Premier mile.

Loras aims to continue its early-season success next weekend as they split up again with the Aurora University Grand Prix on Friday, Jan. 27, and the University of Dubuque's Sol Butler Classic on Saturday, Jan. 28.