Feb. 18, 2023 – No. 5 Loras College men's track and field is gearing up for another solid run at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships in a couple of weeks, and this weekend further showcased that the Duhawks are hitting their stride as they set two school records and three top-10 national marks on Friday.

As a team, the Duhawks finished second out of eight teams at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Indoor Eagle Open on Friday evening with a split squad as some select Duhawks stayed around for the University of Dubuque's Soloman W. Butler Classic.

Indoor Eagle Open – UW-La Crosse
Freshman Matt Kruse was one of the top Duhawks on Friday afternoon in La Crosse as he placed second in the 400-meter dash with a 48.79, a time good enough to elevate him to fifth in Division III this season (converted to 48.03). The unconverted time also ranks him third in program history.

In addition to his individual success, Kruse also teamed up with brother Ted Kruse and other Duhawk teammates in Mike Jasa and Matthew Marcum to win the 4x400-meter relay race with a 3:15.38 (converted to 3:12.32). That relay team of a senior, junior, and two freshmen set a new program record with the unconverted time, and they now rank third in Division III for 2023.

The younger Kruse added a fourth place finish out of 18 runners in the 60-meter hurdles to his impressive day, while older brother Ted ran a 22.47 to place seventh in the 200-meter dash, ranking him third in program history.

Junior thrower Holden Murphy stayed hot as well and put together one of his most complete performances of the season on Friday. Murphy took the top spot out of 16 competitors in the weight throw and set another school record as he eclipsed one of his old marks. His 18.84-meter mark now ranks him sixth in Division III as he continues to improve down the stretch.

Murphy also placed second out of 16 in the shot put with a 15.61-meter toss, which is just 0.3 meters shy of his personal best from just two weeks ago.

Loras also got a boost with a couple of mid-distance victories, courtesy of seniors Wyatt Kelly and Ryan Harvey. Kelly took first in the 800-meters with a 1:54.72 as Harvey claimed the win in the mile with a 4:12.72. Harvey led the way for a 1-2-3 finish for Loras ahead of junior Carlo Dannenfelser and sophomore Jacob Belha.

Dannenfelser and Belha both set personal-bests and now rank inside the top 10 in program history.

Solomon W. Butler Classic – University of Dubuque
Senior Ray Venditti led the select Duhawks who stayed in Dubuque for the Soloman W. Butler Classic by winning the pole vault with a clearance of 4.74 meters. He fell short on his three attempts to clear 4.88 meters, which would have been a personal best.

Venditti also placed third in the high jump after tying for second place with a 1.95-meter mark. He and Dubuque's Jatavion Hawkins were just 0.05 meters shy of the top spot as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Daniel Inyang cleared 2.00 meters to win the event.

Junior Will Yasdick also earned a notable finish for the Duhawks by coming home fourth in the 3000-meters with a 8:59.79. Sophomore Frank Day qualified for the finals in the 60-meters to place fifth overall with a 7.11 while freshman Owen Scherff made the finals and placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles with a 9.15.

Loras heads to Buena Vista University on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25 for the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Indoor Track & Field Championships.