Werven Wins Decathlon at BIG EAST Outdoor Championships

VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Marquette University men's track team is in third and the women are in seventh after two days of competition at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships.

Simon Werven claimed victory in the decathlon to earn MU its first gold medal of the 2023 conference championships. Werven trailed by 27 points heading into the 1500m. The Rochester, Minnesota native cruised to a personal best time of 4:29.64 to finish first and win the decathlon with a personal best score of 6898. Werven's score is No. 4 in program history. Werven also placed fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.92 m/6-3.50 ft.

Gus Kasun earned the bronze medal in the decathlon and broke Joe Keys's freshman record in the process with 6703 points. Kasun's score is the sixth-best in MU history.

Fellow freshman, Cole Donahe finished sixth in the decathlon with 5681 points to score points for the MU men. Donahe also scored points in the javelin with a throw of 54.44 m/179-7 ft. to finish eighth.

Harry Baker made the podium in the men's high jump. The indoor BIG EAST champion cleared the bar at 1.92 m/6-3.50 ft. to place third.

Dan Weizeorick placed fifth in the men's steeplechase with a personal best of 8:53.32. His time ranks No. 2 all-time and was three-hundredths of a second off the school record.

Several Golden Eagles made it through their event preliminaries into Saturday's finals. Mitchell Van Vooren qualified for the finals in the 400m hurdles with a personal best time of 52.22, the No. 2 time in MU history. Jared Humphrey also qualified with a PR of 55.84. Juru Okwaramoi made it on the women's side with a time of 1:02.00.

Daylee Braden made the final in the women's 400m with a personal best time of 55.80. Zachariah Murray finished second in his heat of the 400m with a time of 48.78 to qualify.

Julian Wright advanced to the men's 200m final after taking second in his heat with a time of 21.75.

Other MU point scorers on the day included: Casey Carlson (high jump), Katie Dingle (heptathlon), Kaitlyn Huebner (pole vault), Kate Jochims (steeplechase), Mia Ketelhohn (javelin), Alex Lesperance (long jump), Grace Mager (Javelin) and Anna Penzkover (steeplechase).

The final day will begin at 9:00 a.m. CT. Events will be live streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports. Live results for all events can be found here.

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