Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational Final Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 28, 2018) – Sophomore Eric Burns and senior Stephen Hubona both were victorious in their respective events as the Loyola University Chicago track & field teams competed at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, Ky. this afternoon.
 
"The Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational here at Louisville is a new meet that we added this year," Loyola head track & field coach Bob Thurnhoffer said.  "We felt it was a great late-season meet where we could get some good marks.  It was a productive day as Eric extended his conference lead in the long jump, Stephen flew up the MVC rankings in the discus, and Gift (Chinda) is now unofficially ranked third in the conference in the triple jump.  We continue to see some strong development out of Lauren (Kroll), Molly (Reighard) and Vince (DiVenere).  Elijah (Olige) had a big 400m run, while Emmanuel (Champagne) really impressed in the steeplechase.  Sylvester (Pydych) looks primed to contend for points in the long jump.  Rita (Maurais) was absolutely sensational and our 5,000m men's crew gave us some really good runs.  Final exams will be the primary focus this week and then we'll head into the MVC meet with a lot of momentum."
 
Burns further extended his lead atop the Missouri Valley Conference's long jump leaderboard today.  The New Carlisle, Ind. native posted a season-best leap of 24-05.50 (7.45m) to finish first as part of a stacked field.  Burns' jump unofficially moves him up into a tie for 51^st on the NCAA West Region rankings in the event.
 
Hubona used a season-best showing of his own to cruise to victory in the discus throw.  Out of LaGrange, Ill., Hubona took first overall with a top heave of 163-07 that moves him up to fifth on the conference chart.
 
Freshman Gift Chinda recorded in his second triple jump personal best in as many meets, reaching 47-02.25 (14.38m) as he ascended to third on the Valley leaderboard.  In action from Friday evening, the senior pairing of Paulina Gal and Sylvester Pydych both turned in strong showings.  Gal notched a personal-best mark of 45-03.75 (13.81m) in the shot put, while Pydych nearly matched his long jump personal best with a top leap of 22-01.75 (6.75m).
 
Loyola's talented freshman class continued to shine on the track this afternoon.  Lauren Kroll notched a new 100m dash personal best of 12.27.  Fellow sprinter Vince DiVenere checked in at 54.81 in the 400m hurdles.  Emmanuel Champagne used an inspired effort to take second overall in the 3,000m steeplechase, where he came through in 9:18.87.
 
Sophomore Rita Maurais impressed in the 1,500m run, notching a personal best of 4:34.31.  Redshirt senior Nicholas Prajka (1:54.02) and junior Emily Karl (2:17.64) both picked up victories in their respective heats of the 800m run, while junior Elijah Olige crossed in the 400m dash with an outdoor personal-best 48.86.  Senior Peter Schaible led a quartet of Ramblers in the 5,000m run with a time of 15:08.03 to take sixth overall.
 
Loyola wraps up the regular season portion of its outdoor schedule on Friday when it visits Madison, Wis. for the Wisconsin Alumni Classic.