The Valparaiso men's team earned a finish in the top half of the standings at the Carthage Division I Invitational on Saturday afternoon with their fourth place finish.

The Crusaders tallied 86 points in Kenosha, Wis., trailing third place Wisconsin-Milwaukee by just seven. Marquette won the meet with 134 points, followed by DePaul with 127 points.

The Brown and Gold got scoring in virtually every facet of the meet on Saturday, something that did not always happen last year.

In the sprints, freshman Scott Hill (Goshen, Ind./Northwood H.S.) turned in a third place finish in the 55m dash with a time of 6.67 seconds. Teammate Raphael Awoseyin (Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria/Greater Tomorrow H.S.) then placed fourth in the 200m dash, crossing the finish line in 23.07 seconds. The junior's mark was the second best in Valparaiso school history.

Nathaniel Noon (Birmingham, Ala./John Carroll H.S.) and Sean Barfield (University Place, Wash./Curtis H.S.) both added to the Crusaders point total in the 55m hurdles. Noon earned a third place finish with a time of 8.19 seconds, while Barfield was fifth just .18 seconds behind his teammate.

The Crusaders distance squad helped the team's cause as well. Aaron Crague (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central H.S.) finished fourth in the 3,000m run as he crossed the line in a time of 8:42.87. Valpo then took third, fourth, and fifth in the 5,000m. Doug Brown (Bluffton, Ohio/Allen East H.S.) crossed the line first for the Brown and Gold with a time of 15:51.64, just 11 seconds behind the leader. Adam Piaskowy (Crete, Ill./Monee H.S.) was less than two seconds behind Brown, and Rick Wenger (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere H.S.) completed the trio.

The Valpo distance medley relay placed second earning eight more points toward the team total as Matt Blume (Logansport, Ind./Pioneer H.S.), Nate Nunnelly (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.), Jed Reisetter (Lewiston, Minn./Lewiston-Altura H.S.), and Crague finished the race in 10:45.71, 12 seconds behind DePaul.

On the infield, the Crusader field event athletes had a strong meet as well. Matt Larson (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator H.S.) finished third in the weight throw with a mark of 44'7". Teammate Todd Goodrick (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester H.S.) placed sixth in the event with a heave of 42'2".

Goodrick was Valpo's top shot putter on the afternoon, finishing fourth with a throw of 42'8 ¼". Jeff Swihart (Wakarusa, Ind./Northwood H.S.) also scored for the Brown and Gold with his sixth place finish (40'7½").

In the jumps, Joshua Lee (Yellow Jacket, Colo./Montezuma-Cortez H.S.) finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 20'5", while Reed Williams (Scottsdale, Ariz./Charparral H.S.) and Brandon Schreve (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield H.S.) each cleared 11'5 ¾" in the pole vault to finish fourth and fifth respectively.

The Crusaders will return to the track next Saturday at the Stan Lyons Invitational in Indianapolis. The first event is scheduled to begin at noon CST.