The Loras College men's cross country team finished 11^th of 32 teams at the National Catholic Championships and also posted the best finish among NCAA Division III schools at the multi-level competition. The meet, annually hosted by the University Notre Dame, featured schools from NCAA Division I, II, and the NAIA levels as well. The Duhawks finished above a handful of schools from each of those levels.

The Duhawks were led by junior Dain Leytem, who finished in 58^th place in the field of 234 runners. His efforts landed him Iowa Conference Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors. Leytem finished the 5-mile course in 27:16 in his first event as Loras' number one. Junior Mike Higgins (27:19), senior Tyler Meyer (27:20), freshman Austin Steil (27:30), and junior Ryan Engelman (27:35) rounded out the top five for the Duhawks, who managed a very impressive 19-second split.

The varsity team will be off until October 10 when they travel to Waverly, Iowa - the site of the 2009 Iowa Conference Championships - to complete in Wartburg's regular season Invitational. Loras hosts their annual event, the Dr. Robert Tucker Invitational, on October 16.

Complete results from the National Catholic Championships are available at the link on the top of this story.