CHICAGO (January 20, 2023) – The Loyola University Chicago track & field team opened the 2023 calendar season on Friday, January 20 at the Blue Demon Alumni Classic, hosted by DePaul at Gately Park on the southside of the city.
 
The highlight of the day came in the men's 1000m run, with Miguel Abaitua and Gabe Smit claiming the top two spots in the event. Abaitua set the facility record with a time of 2:25.58, placing him sixth all-time in Loyola history, while Smit finished in 2:27.31, which also broke the previous facility record of 2:32.63.
 
The women's mile run saw a pair of Ramblers set PRs en route to a pair of top 10 finishes. Nora Wollen claimed fourth in a time of 4:57.72, improving her PR by over four seconds, while Grace Kuhn finished eighth after shaving nine seconds off her PR with a time of 5:02.81.
 
The Rambler men placed four inside the top 10 of the men's mile, with all four setting new PRs. Fionn Harrington improved on his PR by nearly 12 seconds with a third-place finish (4:10.19) while Cameron Arkesteyn finished fourth with a time of 4:10.57 to shave nearly a second off his personal best. Blake Buysse made a 13-second improvement in the event with a fifth-place effort (4:10:62) and Kenny Wallace also set a new PR in the event with a final time of 4:11.80 to claim seventh position.
 
Freshman Roisin Treacy improved by 30 seconds in the women's 3000m run from her last meet, finishing eighth overall with a time of 10:23.79. Nathan Kolbus (4^th) and Chantz Visse (9^th) posted top-10 finishes in the men's 3000m with times of 8:30.85 and 8:37.85, respectively.
 
In the women's 1000m run, Fran Hendrickson claimed third overall, crossing the line in 3:02.67, with Kelly Andrews following in eighth position (3:08.15).
 
After qualifying in fifth position in the women's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.97, Jayla Johnson shaved two one-hundredths off her time to finish fourth overall in the finals after posting a time of 8.95.
 
The 400m run saw a pair of ninth-place finishes by Erin Connors and Jack Slaughter with times of 59.12 and 51.24 in the women's and men's competitions, respectively.
 
Loyola is back in action on Friday, January 27 at the Indiana Relays.