News Releases

Second Place Finish For Cross Country at Championships

10/30/2004

Andrew McQuillan and Maureeca Lambert led the Ramblers

Chicago, Ill. (October 30, 2004) – The men’s and women’s cross country squads both seized second place finishes at the Horizon League Championships this afternoon at UW-Parkside for the second year in a row.

Head coach Marc Burns on this weekend stated, "We knew we were faced with a tough challenge in racing the 14th-ranked Butler team. It was our goal to run a race that would shake things up a bit and give us a chance to beat them. Our guys did a nice job pressing the pace the early and they paid the price midway through the race."

Andrew McQuillan (Geneva, Ill.) finished the 8k course with a mark of 26:06 for a team-high tenth place with Andrew Sbertoli (Wood Dale, Ill.) just behind for the next spot with a time of 26:14. Taking 13th and 14th place for Loyola were Shawn Lucas (Elgin, Ill., 26:16) and Brent Cunningham (Oak Lawn, Ill., 26:25). Justin Motkowicz (Park Forest, Ill.) finished within the top twenty in 19th with a mark of 26:43 for valuable points. Rounding out the finishers for Loyola were Eduardo Borjon, Chris Morris, Joe Mahalick, Cliff Cook, Dan Carlson, Steve Sebelski, and Dan Bird.

"Each of our top 5 responded with a lot of heart over the last two miles to securing a second-place finish overall. We are disappointed that we did not give Butler a better race but feel that this experience will make us a better team in two weeks at the NCAA Regional meet," said Burns.

Burns continued stating, "Lucas and Sbertoli really put themselves out on a limb by getting out hard through the first two miles and were able to regroup with a strong last two miles. Motkowicz came up big for us down the stretch passing five guys in the last 200m to help the team finish up strong."

One significant Rambler missing at the championships was Sam Romanoski. According to Burns, "Sam came down with a case of food poisoning late Friday night and was hospitalized through Sunday morning. We missed Sam and look forward to getting him back in the line up, however he’s back at school and feeling much better. We expect him to back at full strength by the regional meet."

Once again, sophomore Maureeca Lambert (Bloomington, Ill.) was the team-high finisher for the Ramblers, completing the 5k course in 18:13 for second place overall. Burns points out, "Lambert has really stepped up to a new level of racing this year. She will be ready to make a strong statement at the NCAA regional meet in two weeks." He continues, "We finished a strong second this weekend to a very good Butler team. They are ranked 29th in the country and have a good mix of strong front running and depth."

Sophomore Amanda Domich (Algonquin, Ill.) had another strong finish for Loyola nabbing 12th place with a mark of 19:04, as Anna Hinterschied (Reynoldsburg, Ohio,19:21) and freshman Racheal Hansen (Omaha, Neb.,19:34) in 14th and 15th place, respectively. Sara Covert (19:50) and Courtney Tumpach (19:57) finished under the twenty-minute mark, with Christine Lubovich, Monica Klempel, Marcy Garguiolo, and Michelle Kubilewicz competing as well.

In regards to the upcoming meet for the women, Burns feels that "We need to regroup as a team and prepare to run our best race of the year at the regional meet. In order to make this happen, we need to believe in all of the great work that we have done throughout the year. We have been healthy all year and have a great foundation for a huge race in two weeks."

The next meet for the Ramblers will be November 13 in Peoria, Ill. for the NCAA Region IV Championships.