April 1, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Loyola University Chicago track and field squad kicked off its outdoor season over the weekend with strong performances at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State and at the Viking Classic at North Park University.

Senior Joe Mahalick paced the Ramblers with a sixth-place finish in the men's 800-meter run. His time of 1:52.04 was his fastest outdoor time by 1.7 seconds. Leading the Ramblers in the 1,500 meter run was freshman Ben Reifenberg who earned a third-place finish out of 71 competitors. Reifenberg posted a time of 3:58.88 and was followed by Anthony Wile who recorded a new personal-best of 4:01.09 to place ninth. Matt McCabe came in 21st with a time of 4:05.01.

The men's 4x400m relay team of Ricky Headrick, Donte Prisby, Tom Andreoni and Martin Pugliese ran their fastest time of the year posting a time of 3:19.03 for a fifth-place finish.

Pam Staton recorded a time of 2:15.94 in the women's 800-meter run for a ninth-place finish as she won her heat leading wire to wire. Senior Amanda Domich garnered seventh-place out of 27 competitors as she posted a time of 17:46.75 in the women's 5,000 meter.

At the Viking Classic, Jordan Rohfling led Loyola as she won the discus throw and the hammer throw with marks of 32.64m and 37.26m, respectively. Leili Khorassani and Jessica Sheahan garnered second and third-place in the hammer throw with respective marks of 34.16m and 28.77m.

The Ramblers return to action on April 4 at the Duke Invite and Chicagolands Championships.