WAVERLY, Iowa (Feb. 5, 2023) – Seven event victories led the way for another strong showing from the No. 5 Loras College men's track and field team as the Duhawks took second place at the Wartburg College Select Invite on Saturday.

Loras earned upwards of 25 total top-fives in event standings on Saturday to help amass 184 team points and finish as a close runner-up to No. 17 Wartburg College, which totaled 202 points at its home meet with a more complete entry list.

Junior Derik Bunten helped lead the charge for Loras as he was tops in a pair of events, both in the field and on the track. Bunten took first in the long jump with a 6.90-meter mark, which he registered on his first attempt, to narrowly edge out Simpson College's Carter Berkey (6.86m).

Bunten later ran the fastest time out of all 27 runners in  the 200-meter dash, clocking a 22.50. He capped off his impressive day with a personal-best 6.98 time in the 60-meter dash that placed him third out of eight runners in the finals and third out of 33 runners overall.

Senior Josh Smith added a win in  the 400-meter dash, leading the way with a 49.53 time that set the stage for three Duhawks to finish in the top five. Freshmen Matt Kruse and Matthew Marcum placed second and fifth in the event with times of 49.81 and 50.82, respectively.

Kruse was the fastest runner in section five of the 200-meter field while he and Marcum both were part of the race-winning 4x400-meter relay team. Those two, along with junior Ted Kruse and senior Mike Jasa, clocked a 3:18.63to take first ahead of two other Duhawk relay teams that placed second and fifth overall.

Jasa also added an individual win as he went tops in the mile with a 4:15.57 ahead of teammates Carlo Dannenfelser in third and Jacob Belha in fourth.

Senior Ray Venditti won the pole vault event with a 4.46-meter mark while junior Holden Murphy set a new personal-best to win the shot put with a 15.99-meter toss.

The Duhawk squads will split up again between three different meets over the weekend, beginning with an appearance at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday, Feb. 10. The team will also travel to meets at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday, Feb. 11.