Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Feb. 18, 2022 – Starting the day off with an NCAA Division III qualifying mark, the No. 1 Loras College women's track and field team cruised to the team title at the Sol Butler Classic, hosted by the University of Dubuque, on Friday, adding a school record and multiple all-time performances in another impressive showing for the Duhawks.

The distance medley relay crew of Ellie Osterberger, Stevie Lambe, Valerie Herbst, and Kassie Parker raced their way in to the record book with the second-fastest time in program history and in Division III this season, running 11:53.66. Elayna Bahl set the school record in the 60-meter hurdle prelims, running 8.81 seconds which also ranks her fifth in Division III while Grace Alley ran the ninth-fastest time in program history to place second in the finals (9.46) and Merryl Green finished third with a time of 9.68. Marion Edwards tied her lifetime best in the 60-meter dash, running 7.71 which ties for fifth nationally this season and won the 400-meter dash by nearly three-seconds, running 57.82 which moves her into fourth all-time for the Duhawks and 12th nationally.

The Duhawks claimed the top-three spots in the 800-meter run, led by Osterberger winning the race in 2:21.72, Frankie Chaidez finishing second in 2:23.12 and Herbst placing third in 2:24.00. Brianna Renner finished second in the mile with a time of 5:19.15 and Alyssa Pfadenhauer added a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash, running 25.70. Green, Chaidez, Alley and Sam Heavlin won the 4-by-400-meter relay with a time of 4:06.36.

In the field events, Destiny Schwartz finished third with a throw of 15.11 meters in the weight throw and Bahl finished second with a lifetime-best in the high jump, clearing 1.65 meters which ranks third in program history and 15th in Division III. De'ja Austin-Cherry had a lifetime-best in the triple jump, leaping 11.10 meters to finish second and rank fifth on Loras' all-time list.

The Duhawks won the meet with 185.50 points followed by the host Spartans in second with 154.50 points and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in third with 81.50 points.

Loras will be back at A.Y McDonald Track on Friday, Feb. 25 for the A-R-C Indoor Track and Field Championship, hosted by the University of Dubuque. The pentathlon starts the weekend off at 10 A.M. and the pole vault starting at 3 P.M. while Saturday's action begins with the remainder of the pentathlon events and women's triple jump at 10 A.M.