John Tierney Classic Results

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (January 20, 2018) – The Loyola University Chicago track & field teams laid claim to five event titles as the Ramblers resumed the indoor portion of their 2017-18 schedule this afternoon at the John Tierney Classic in Milwaukee, Wis.
 
"We had a great overall meet at Milwaukee," Loyola head track & field coach Bob Thurnhoffer commented.  "We had a blast out there and got some great early season reps in.  This is a good place to be this early in the season and we're going to keep building from here.  We had some great inspirational performances that really paved the way for the meet and we're excited to go to Northern Iowa next week.  One week at a time is our mantra and taking care of business here and now is on the forefront of our mind as we continue forward.  This is going to be a great season."
 
Senior Cassie Bloch turned in an impressive performance in the women's mile run as she crossed in a meet-record 4:54.14 to finish first overall, coming in just over two seconds ahead of redshirt junior Lindsey Brewis, who took second at 4:56.45.  The St. Clair Shore, Mich. native's time moves her into sole possession of sixth place on Loyola's all-time indoor mile run record board.  Sophomore Rita Maurais (5:03.40) and senior Emma Hatch (5:03.52) came in third and fourth, respectively, to close out a strong showing for the Ramblers in the event.
 
"This was our first race of the season and the focus was to just go out and compete to see where were at," Loyola assistant track & field coach Alan Peterson said.  "For Cassie to go out and run a personal best in the way that she did, was an incredible start to the year.  I'm very excited for the rest of the season."
 
Sophomore Michael Edwards led a successful showing for the Rambler men in the 300m dash that saw the Maroon & Gold claim the top four spots on the leaderboard.  Edwards clocked a personal-best time of 35.45 to cross the finish line first before being followed by junior Leron Norton (35.65, 2nd), sophomore Octavian Wells (35.66, 3rd) and junior Elijah Olige (35.77, 4th). 

In the field, senior Stephen Hubona picked up a victory in the men's weight throw.  The LaGrange, Ill. product used a personal-best toss of 57-07.75 (17.57m) to edge out Terrance Howard of Marquette (57-00.25; 17.38m) for the top spot on the leaderboard.  Fellow senior Kiera Washpun took home a runner-up finish in the women's long jump with a leap of 18-10.00 (5.74m).
 
Loyola's afternoon was capped off in style by a pair of relay victories.  In the women's 4x400m relay, the quartet of senior Brady Rodney, junior Natajah Simmons and sophomores Kyndall Wallace and Lindsay Walters turned in a time of 3:57.92 to defeat Marquette (3:58.35) for the event title.  The men's side of the 4x400m relay followed a similar script, with the team of Norton, Olige, junior Brady McCue and freshman Vince DiVenere coming across in 3:24.48 to edge out the Golden Eagles (3:24.73) for first place.
 
"I was really impressed with how both the relay teams competed today coming off of five weeks without a meet," Loyola assistant track & field coach Jon DeGrave said.  "Brady and Leron both put their teams out to leads on the first leg and everyone else did a great job controlling the race.  It's also great to get victories over teams that we see frequently like Marquette, Milwaukee and UIC and hopefully helps set the tone for the season going forward."
 
Loyola heads to the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa next weekend to compete at the Jack Jennett Open (January 26) and the Mark Messermith Invitational (January 27).