Nick Kowaleski (Lockbourne, Ohio/Grove City) ran a season-best in the 60-meter dash to place third and lead the Crusader men’s track team at the Chicagoland Championships in Naperville, Ill.

Valparaiso placed 14^th in the event with a total of 10 points.

Kowaleski had a time of 7.05 seconds in the preliminaries to qualify third for the final, and then he bettered that in the final, posting a time of 7.00 seconds, which is his fastest time this season.

Barrett Rehm (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) placed sixth in the pole vault, clearing 13’7 ¾”.

Ryan Stegenga (South Holland, Ill./Illiana Christian) and Andrew Rixon (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) finished back-to-back in the weight throw. Stegenga took eighth with a distance of 47’2 ¼”, and Rixon’s mark of 46’10 ¼” was good for ninth.

On the track, Wally Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) placed ninth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:52.39.

Valparaiso returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind.