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

Feb. 26, 2022 – A group familiar with making history, the No. 1-ranked Loras College women's track and field team celebrated another historic moment as the Duhawks scored the program's first American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Indoor Track and Field Championship title on Saturday at the University of Dubuque. The Duhawks celebrated eight conference champions in addition to Kassie Parker and Alyssa Pfadenhauer winning the meet's Most Valuable Track Performer honor, Grace Alley earning Most Valuable Field Performer in addition to the Duhawks' coaching staff bringing home the Coaching Staff of the Year award.

Grace Alley began a busy weekend with the pentathlon on Friday and started the Duhawks off with winning the multi-event, scoring 3,365 points. Kassie Parker followed her lead and cruised to victory in the 5,000-meter run, running 17:20.81 to win the first of her three events of the weekend. The distance medley relay crew of Ellie Osterberger, Frankie Chaidez, Stevie Lambe and Valerie Herbst finished second in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:27.67, the ninth-fastest in program history, and in the jumps, Harmony Creasy earned her first career All-Conference honor as the freshman finished third in the long jump (5.42 meters), moving into third in program history.

Alley opened up the second day of the competition with another win in the triple jump, leaping 11.79 meters. De'Ja Austin-Cherry added a third-place finish in the event to secure All-Conference nods, jumping 11.20 meters and moving into fifth all-time for the Duhawks. Alley finished off her weekend with a third-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.61 meters. Parker won her second title in the mile run (4:58.63) and though just outside of All-Conference honors, Ellie Osterberger ran 5:08.49 in the mile, ranking sixth in program history. As the sprinting events got underway, Marion Edwards finished second in the 60-meter dash in 7.76 seconds and Alyssa Pfadenhauer finished third in 7.90, the ninth-fastest time in program history, and the pair posted All-Conference honors again in the 200-meter dash with Edwards winning in 25.16 for the second-fastest time in program history and third in Division III while Pfadenhauer's second place finish and time of 25.49 ranks her third all-time and 12th in the nation. Pfadenhauer also won the 400-meter dash, defending her title from a year ago, in 56.02, as did Elayna Bahl in the 60-meter hurdles, running 8.91 to take the crown.

Parker closed out her final indoor championship with a sweep of the distance events, winning the 3,000-meter run by 11 seconds in 9:42.59. It was the second time in her career she won the 5,000, mile and 3,000-meter runs, having done so in 2020 when she was named the Most Valuable Track Performer. Along with her win, the Duhawks finished out the meet on a high note with a third-place run by the 4-by-800-meter relay team of Chaidez, Herbst, Kaylee Osterberger and Alexis Riesberg, running 9:38.26 to rank second all-time and the 4-by-400-meter relay team of Edwards, Bahl, Lambe and Pfadenhauer continued to take time off their national-leading mark, setting the school record and winning the race by seven seconds to run 3:48.75.

Parker, Pfadenhauer and Alley's performances garnered recognition by the conference coaches as the women's program swept the major awards and the Duhawks' coaching staff was honored for their team's achievements. Loras won the meet with 193 points, edging Wartburg College in second with 188. The host Spartans finished third with 107.5 points.

The title is the first for the Duhawks in an indoor season and paired with the men's title marks the first time both teams have won the indoor title in the same year. The only other time Loras has brought home both trophies was the outdoor track and field championship in 1996.

The Duhawks look to carry the same success into the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championship beginning Friday, Mar. 11 in Winston-Salem, N.C. at the JDL Fast Track. Loras won back-to-back outdoor national championship titles in 2019 and 2021 and look to bring home the program's first indoor title.