Feb. 25, 2007

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Loyola's Amanda Domich won Horizon League titles in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meter races as both the men's and women's indoor track and field teams finished fourth in this weekend's Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships in the University of Michigan Indoor Track Building. In their first league championship under first-year head coach Rick Wemple, the women's team compiled 71 points while the men had 76. UW-Milwaukee swept both league team titles for the second consecutive season.

"I am very pleased with our performances because we exceeded expectations on both sides," Wemple said. "I had originally pegged our teams to score from 65 to 66 points so both teams scoring in the 70's is a great accomplishment."

Amanda Domich led the Rambler women by winning titles in multiple events: the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. Domich ran a season-best time of 10:16.56 to win her first-ever 3,000-meter crown then won her second-career 5,000-meter title with a 17:57.50 effort.

Sophomore Pam Staton won her first Horizon League Championship with a career-best 2:18.59 performance in the 800-meter dash. This is the second consecutive meet that Staton has established a new personal best in the event after 2:20.16 run last weekend in the UW-Milwaukee Double Dual.

Marcia Faustin was the main Loyola presence in the field events. Faustin's 5-05.25 (1.66m) effort earned her fourth consecutive high jump championship by two inches over Youngstown State's Jen Grayson. Faustin is only the second student-athlete in Horizon League history to win the high jump four consecutive years, joining Detroit's Kim Jess who claimed the title each season from 1994 to 1998.

The Loyola's men's team got a boost in the sprints as freshman Nick Herold won his first Horizon League championship in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.10 to edge Youngstown State's Eric Baltputnis by .01. Teammates Jimel Denham (7.12) and Edmund Blankson (7.16) followed in third and fourth place, respectively. Denham and Blankson added another pair of second and third-place finishes in the 200-meter dash as well. Denham took second with a time of 22.16 while Blankson finished third in 22.45.

Fifth-year senior Shawn Lucas led Loyola's distance runners on the men's side and won his first-career Horizon League Championship in the 1,000-meter run with a personal-best 2:33.26 effort to beat out Butler's Chris Smith.

Loyola's final indoor meet before the NCAA Indoor Championships is on Friday and Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind.