May 25, 2023 – There's just one more event left on the athletic calendar for 2022-23, and it's the big one for the Loras College track & field programs as both squads enter the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships ranked inside the top five, giving both teams legitimate championship aspirations.

The outdoor championships at the Polisseni Track & Field Complex on the campus of St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y. run Thursday-Saturday, May 25-27, with action beginning at 10 A.M. ET on Thursday morning.

Top-eight finishers in individual and relay events earn NCAA All-America honors at championship meets. The Loras women have eight marks that would meet the All-America threshold if the finishing orders were to align with the pre-championship seeding.

Multiple Duhawk woman have chances to claim at least one All-America accolades this weekend, including graduate student Kassie Parker who aims to win another pair of national titles to bookend her storied career. Parker is the top seed in each the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races this year with NCAA Division III record-times serving as her best marks. Despite all her success, Parker is shooting for her first outdoor national title since winning the 2019 10k event.

Senior Gabrielle Noland is also poised for a big weekend as she bookends her long career in Rochester. In addition to qualifying for the 100-meter dash field, Noland is the No. 3 seed in the 200-meter dash this weekend and has a shot to claim the title with a good showing. She's also a part of the 4x400-meter relay squad, along with Marion Edwards, Stevie Lambe, and Alyssa Pfadenhauer, that are the top-seed in the race entering the weekend.

Senior Grace Alley is in the running for two, maybe three, All-America accolades this weekend as she is qualified for three events, including the heptathlon where she is the No. 1 seed. Alley was an All-American (sixth place) in the heptathlon and the high jump (second place) last season, and she enters as the No. 6 seed in the high jump in 2023. She's also in the triple jump field as the No. 15 seed.

Sophomore Harmony Creasy, the indoor long jump runner-up this season, is poised for an All-American finish as well as she enters the outdoor long jump as the No. 8 seed. She's also knocking on the door of All-American status in the triple jump as she enters this weekend as the No. 10 seed in that event. Additionally, she's listed as the lead leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that also features Edwards, Lambe, and junior Kelly Kohlhof. That group is the No. 2 seed this week and is in position to steal a national championship.

The Loras men enter with six potential All-America marks, including the chance to land two All-Americans in each the 800- and 1500-meter races. In the 800m, senior Mike Jasa is the No. 1 seed and is looking to reclaim his national champion status after winning this race back in 2021. The indoor champion is joined by a teammate in senior Carter Oberfoell, who is the No. 5 seed in this year's field, and the two will likely look to work together to claim another title and two All-America honors.

Another Duhawk duo that is used to working together enters the 1500-meter field as senior Wyatt Kelly and junior Ryan Harvey are the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds in the event. Both runners were in the mile field at this year's indoor championships and were both in the 1500m outdoor field last season.

Three Loras field athletes have a shot at All-America honors as well with senior Ray Venditti (high jump) being ranked No. 2 and juniors Derik Bunten (long jump) and Holden Murphy (discus) each being No. 3 seeds in their events. Venditti, who is also in the pole vault field this week, finished 14th in the indoor high jump this season while Bunten was a long jump All-American at the indoor meet, marking the first national championship appearances for both athletes. Murphy, who is also the No. 17 seed in the hammer throw, is making his second straight appearance in the discus field at the outdoor national championships.