April 16, 2011
CHICAGO - Led by event winners James McLachlan, Josh Stein and Gina Valgoi, Loyola's outdoor track and field teams braved rainy and windy conditions at the DePaul Invitational today at Lane Stadium in Chicago. McLachlan won the long jump while Stein (1,500m) and Valgoi (5K) excelled on the track.
Stein continued his excellent outdoor season with a personal-best effort to win the 1,500m event. Known mostly for his distance running, Stein clocked a 3:54.60 in the event, a time that places him fourth among Horizon League competitors this season. Matt McCabe (4:00.74) and Anthony Wile (season best 4:01.85) also ran well in that event, placing third and fourth, respectively.
The Ramblers also ran well in the 800m, placing two in the top four. Declan Murray led the way, finishing second in 1:53.14 to edge out teammate Nolan Fine, who snatched fourth place with a time of 1:55.05.
McLachlan led the way for the LU men in the field, winning the long jump event with a leap of 6.55m. Halfway through the outdoor season, McLachlan currently sits in second on the Horizon League list in this event.
Freshman Deven Lopez also had a nice meet in the field events, highlighted by a season-best toss of 122-11 in the discus.
Valgoi's terrific performance in the 5K highlighted the meet for the women's team, as the sophomore won the event with a time of 17:17.19. The time places her 10th on Loyola's all-time list and was 39 seconds faster than her nearest competitor in the race. Teammate Alison Rack finished third in the event, posting a season-best time of 18:00.23.
Elsewhere on the track, the trio of Alyvia Clark, Caitlin Ferry and Kelly Egan finished third, fourth and fifth in the 800m, paced by Clark's season-best time of 2:17.36. Ferry and Clark also joined Sophia Holy and Jenn Bane to post a time of 4:10.91 in the 4x400m relay, the team's best time of the season.
Elizabeth Butler moved into sixth on Loyola's all-time list in the 3,000m steeplechase after navigating the course in 11:37.50.
Loyola returns to action on Wednesday afternoon when it competes at Concordia before breaking for the Easter holiday weekend.
