Feb. 23, 2008

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Loyola University Chicago track and field program put together a stellar performance at the Panther Tune-up in Milwaukee on Friday. Seven Rambler women posted personal-bests and three Loyola men recorded personal-bests at the meet.

Junior Lauren Smith finished fourth in the 400m with her personal-best time of 1:02.00 and junior Pam Staton paced the Rambler women in the mile run. Staton shaved two seconds off of her previous personal-best to earn a second-place finish in a swift 5:05.80. Genevieve Binnie, who recorded a new personal-best by nine seconds, garnered a fourth-place finish with a time of 5:13.68. Rounding out the Loyola women in the mile run with personal-bests of their own were Ashley Raymond (5:13.86) who placed fifth and Alison Rack (5:15.76) who finished sixth out of 13 runners.

In the 60m run, the Loyola women were led by senior Christina James who placed sixth out of 16 competitors. James garnered a time of 8.09 which is just six one hundredths of a second shy of her all-time best. Junior Rebecca Taylor placed ninth in the 60m, recording a mark of 8.30. Her time is only four one hundredths of a second short of her personal-best.

The Rambler women excelled in the 800m run as Staton garnered a first-place finish with a time of 2:17.61. Following close behind, were Jena Brown (2:19.01) who took second and Caitlin Ferry (2:23.08) who placed third among 16 runners.

On the men's side, Blake Lackage garnered a fourth-place finish in the 60m run as he posted a time of 7.22, a personal-best for the freshman sprinter. The Rambler men dominated the 3,000m run as Anthony Wile, Matt McCabe and Ben Reifenberg finished first, second and third, respectively. Wile's 8:56.38 is a new personal-best as is McCabe's time of 8:59.46. Reifenberg recorded a time of 9:03.02 for a third-place finish.

The field results for both the men's and women's programs were unavailable at release time.

Loyola track and field is back in action on March 1 and 2, when it competes at the Horizon League Championships.