Track and Field Brings Home Five First Place Wins at A-10 Indoor Championships

The Loyola track and field team brought home five first-place finishes after competing in the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia Feb. 23-24. 

The Ramblers got off to a hot start with two first-place wins Friday. Graduate distance runner Francois Guilhot finished the men’s 5,000-meter with a time of 14 minutes, 5 seconds — 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. 

In the distance medley relay, third-year middle distance runner Gabe Smit, first-year middle distance runner James Howell, fourth-year middle distance runner Miguel Abaitua and third-year middle distance runner Jason Clayton finished in first place after running the fourth fastest time in program history at 9:51. 

Graduate distance runner Emma Watcke, fourth-year middle distance runner Fran Hendrickson, graduate middle distance runner Kate Wojcikiewicz and third-year distance runner Grace Kuhn competed as a team in the distance medley relay. They finished in third place in the meet and set a new program record with a time of 11:38. 

In the 5,000-meter race with Guilhot were second-year distance runner Jake Phillips, graduate distance runner Stephen Lavey and second-year distance runner Woody Jerome, who recorded times of 14:27, 14:58 and 15:19, respectively. 

In the women’s 5,000-meter, first-year distance runner Eileen Seebon finished with a time of 17:26 and placed seventh overall while third-year distance runner Grace Jostock finished in eighth place after running a 17:30. Graduate distance runner Delia McDade-Clay placed in 11th with a time of 17:40. 

The Ramblers walked away from the men’s 800-meter preliminaries with a fourth place finish from Abaitua who qualified for the finals with a time of 1:52. Howell and third-year middle distance runner Jack Slaughter finished with times of 1:56 and 1:57. 

Fourth-year sprinter Jayla Johnson qualified for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles after her first place finish in the preliminaries, clocking 8.61 seconds. On the final day of the event, she placed first in the 60-meter hurdle event with a time of 8.73. With the victory, Johnson has now broken the program record four times this season. 

Clayton ended with a time of 8:15 while Kuhn crossed the finish line with a time of 9:34, both taking home first place wins in the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter. 

Third-year distance runner Roisin Treacy came in sixth place posting a time of 9:56 in the 3,000-meter race, and fourth-year distance runner Grace Maurer placed eighth at 9:57. 

In the men’s 3,000-meter, first-year distance runner Nate Boutin placed sixth with a time of 8:23, third-year distance runner Fionn Harrington finished in eighth place at 8:24 and first-year distance runner Cael Mulholland came just behind in 10th, clocking 8:25. 

In the men’s mile race, Smit achieved a fourth-place finish at 4:09 while first-year distance runner Trent Anderson took 10th with 4:20. Watcke led the women’s team after clocking a 4:53 and landing a third-place win. 

The Ramblers sent a team of graduate middle distance runners Cameron Arkesteyn, Smit, Slaughter and Howell to the 4×800-meter relays. They finished in third with a time of 7:37, running the 10th best time in program history.

The women’s team of Wojcikiewicz, Hendrickson, first-year middle distance runner Jo Collins and fourth-year hurdler Madi McLain posted a time of 9:21, landing them sixth on Loyola’s top-10 list. 

Next up, the Ramblers travel to Boston for the NCAA Indoor Championships March 8.

Featured image courtesy of Chandler Hart | Loyola Athletics