TURLOCK, Calif. – Wakili Bennett had the top finish for Dominican Track and Field in the program's second meet in its history at the Kim Duyst Invitational. 

Men's recap
Bennett competed in the top section of the 100-meter dash and was neck-and-neck with Darnelle Harris from Cal State LA the whole way as it came down to a photo finish. Bennett stretched just past Harris at the finish line to claim the victory and 10 points for the Penguins. 

Jared Wright also claimed team points for the Penguins in the 5k. Wright was in a close battle with Michael Ramirez of Chico State and Elliott Portillo of Cal Poly Humboldt for a top-5 finish among attached runners. Ramirez and Wright created some late separation from Portillo as they battled down the stretch for four points for their teams. Ramirez was able to hold off Wright by .4 of a second as Wright recorded a time of 15:11.35 to finish seventh overall and give the Penguins three points.

Stefan Mueller claimed the final points of the meet for Dominican in the 1500 meter race. Running in the second section, Mueller needed a time better than 4:10.82 to put himself in a position for team points. He delivered as he outkicked Andrew Abbey of Menlo College down the stretch to take second in his heat with a time of 4:08.31, .51 seconds ahead of Abbey, as he became the new mark to beat for the last two sections. The time would hold and he claimed one point to bring the Penguins' total to 14 and a 13th place finish among the 22 teams competing.
 
Women's recap
Julianna Mendez led Dominican women as she competed in the top section of the 1500 meter. Mendez claimed a No. 2 finish in the section with a time of 4:55.99 to beat out Megan Gentes of Strawberry Canyon Track Club by .51 seconds. Her time then withstood a challenge from Agita Svetere of Fresno State who finished in 4:56.15, the top time in the second section but .16 seconds behind Mendez. Mendez was awarded eight points for the team.

Morgan Semana, Bella Bueno, Michelle Chang and Emma Wuelfing represented the Penguins in the 4x100 meter relay. The group finished fifth with a time of 54.39 to finish fifth among six and award Dominican another four points. The Penguins finished tied for 13th among 20 teams with 12 total points. While she did not earn any team points, Isabel Ferris set a new Dominican record in the 5k as she crossed the line in 20:58.62 to top Kelsey Pontius's time set in a meet last season who competed as part of her non-championship segment of cross country.

"Lots of improvements from the last meet," head coach Teressa DiPerna said. "Jared 5k and Wikilli 100m both qualified automatically for Pacwest championships.  Juli finished 2nd in 1500 and had a big improvement from the last meet and Isa set the new record for DU in the women's 5k.  As a program, we were highly visible at the meet and we participated in all events except a few.  It was incredible to hear Dominican announced many times during the day by the announcer.  The invitational had 34 teams represented from various levels and we as a coaching staff are pleased with the comradery, energy and the improvements with times, marks and technique."

Dominican will have two weeks to prepare for its next meet, the Hornet Invitational hosted by Sacramento State on Saturday, March 19.