The Benedictine University's men's track and field team competed at Wheaton College on Wednesday and Thursday in the Wheaton Invitational. BenU placed fifth in the nine-team meet.
 
Benedictine's throwers led the way, as Joe DeMaegd, Eric Kenebrew and Gerald Valenzuela all put together impressive meets. Fresh off his first Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Student-Athlete of the Week award, DeMaegd won the meet's hammer throw with a 51.24m mark while also placing third in the discus (43.34m) and 13th in the shot put (12.84m). Kenebrew built off his appearance at the NCAA DIII Indoor Nationals with top five finishes in all three throws (third in hammer, third in discus, fourth in shot put), while Valenzuela placed in the top 15 of each (fourth discus, seventh hammer, 12th shot put).
 
Also making his first appearance since DIII Nationals was Billy Sipek. In the high jump, the senior placed first with a 2.00m mark.
 
On the track, distance runners Chris Dziagwa (eighth place in the 400m) and Joe Chavez (ninth place in the 800m) delivered strong performances. In the 400m hurdles, freshman Zach Aloff placed fifth at 59.74s.
 
"I am really pleased with the progress we have made from the indoor season," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Kevin Paterson. "Our season was delayed a week due to the weather, but the men took advantage of today's conditions and put together a really solid meet."
 
The Eagles are back in action on Thursday and Friday at College of DuPage for the Chicagoland Outdoor Championships. Events begin at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and 10:00 a.m. on Friday.