MVC Championship Final Results 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (October 28, 2017) – Redshirt junior Lindsey Brewis took home medalist honors, while redshirt senior Alex Baker earned a runner-up finish to lead the Loyola University Chicago cross country teams this morning at the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship in Springfield, Mo.
 
Loyola's men's side came in fourth overall in the final team standings with 93 points.  The Rambler women accumulated 93 points as well to claim third place, their top MVC finish in program history.  Bradley took home the team titles in both the men's (49) and women's (30) races.
 
Brewis rolled to her second victory in as many events as she came in at 17:07.8 in the women's 5k race, nearly five seconds ahead of her next closest finisher, Taylor Austin of Indiana State (17:12.4).  The Dearborn, Mich. product, who was named the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year to go along with First Team All-MVC honors, became Loyola's first MVC Cross Country Champion in program history and is the first Rambler to take home medalist honors at a conference meet since Gina Valgoi in 2012.
 
Sophomore Rita Maurais turned in arguably the strongest showing of her collegiate career as she was the second Rambler to cross the finish line, taking 17^th in 18:04.7.  Senior Emma Hatch came in just under six seconds back of Maurais at 18:10.2 to claim 22^nd.  Following closely behind Hatch was freshman Mimi Reimers, who continued her impressive debut campaign with a time of 18:10.8 to finish in 23^rd place.  Senior Cassie Bloch rounded out the scoring for Loyola in the women's race, checking in 30^th at 18:17.9.
 
"Lindsey ran an incredible race to become the first MVC Cross Country Champion from Loyola," Loyola assistant cross country coach Alan Peterson said.  "The team also ran very well to earn the highest MVC finish in program history.  I'm very proud of the efforts given and we are all very excited for the regional meet in two weeks."
 
Baker was fantastic today as he led the way for the Maroon & Gold in the men's 8k race.  The Crystal Lake, Ill. native turned in a sparkling time of 24:38.9 to finish just a second back of individual medalist Jake Hoffert of Bradley (24:37.9).  By virtue of his performance, Baker was named a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection for a second-straight year. 
 
Also cracking the top 20 on the final individual leaderboard for Loyola was the pairing of senior Peter Schaible and junior Kevin White, both of who earned Honorable Mention All-MVC accolades.  Schaible came across in 25:07.7 to notch an 11^th-place finish, while White checked in two spots back in 13^th at 25:14.4.  Sophomores Max O'Meara (31^st, 26:20.1) and Riley DeMeulenaere (36^th, 26:26.0) also put points on the board for Loyola.
 
"Our top three runners put together the best race since we joined the MVC," Loyola assistant cross country coach Mircea Bogdan commented.  "Alex turned in yet another stellar performance, coming in second overall.  We still need to improve in our fourth and fifth positions, especially since I know we're capable of much more in those spots.  I am still confident that this team can really do something special in the regional meet.  We will continue to work hard towards our goals."
 
Loyola will look to carry over momentum from today's performance when it returns to action in just under two weeks on Nov. 10 when it competes at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, Iowa.