DUBUQUE, Iowa (April 28, 2023) – Fourth-ranked Loras College men's track & field put on a strong showing at the University of Dubuque Relays on Thursday afternoon as the Duhawks took second place in an abbreviated meet.

The Duhawks won seven events on the day to place behind the hosting Spartans. Loras earned 176 points to Dubuque's 264.

Senior Ray Venditti put on the biggest show of the day as his high jump performance drew a sizable crowd. The Duhawk won the event with a best clearance of 2.09 meters to outduel Dubuque's Jatavion Hawkins and Viterbo University's Justin Moore.

Venditti had never cleared an outdoor high jump of 2.00 meters or more prior to Thursday, but his 2.09-meter mark elevated him to third on the Loras' all-time list and into a tie for the Division III national lead.

Junior Holden Murphy also put on a show and eclipsed his own program record yet again with a best hammer throw toss of 58.45 meters, which is currently No. 12 in the country. So far in the 2023 outdoor season, Murphy has either won or finished as the runner-up in the hammer throw at all five of his meets.

Two other Duhawk individuals set season-highs on Thursday with their race-winning efforts as senior Josh Smith claimed the 100-meter dash with a 10.56 while junior Ted Kruse took the 400-meter hurdles with a 54.09. Smith's time elevated him to No. 19 in the country as of Friday morning while Kruse is now 17^th in Division III.

Senior Logan Jones was the final individual to win an event as he took the top spot in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.00 meters. It's the fourth time this season that Jones has had a best mark of 4.00 meters or better, but it's the first time that he has been the winner of the event.

Finally, two Duhawk relay teams won their races as the 4x200-meter relay team bested the team from Dubuque with a 1:30.37, and the 4x400-meter relay group ran a 7:53.60 to finish first out of five teams in that event.

Additionally, while they placed second to the Spartans, the 4x100-meter relay team laid down a time of 41.07 seconds to rank 13^th nationally by the end of Thursday.

The Duhawks will have athletes in action at the Drake Relays on Friday-Saturday at Drake University Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.