Sept. 28, 2006

CHICAGO - The Loyola men's cross country team will be competing against 19 other teams for its fifth consecutive Collegiate Gold Race title at the 34th Annual Sean Earl Invitational, starting at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday at Montrose Avenue Beach. The women's team is looking for its first-ever championship against 18 different teams.

Horizon League foes Illinois-Chicago and UW-Milwaukee schools will compete against Loyola among a 19-school field in the Women's Collegiate Gold Race. The winners of the last two races, Ferris State (2004) and Marquette (2005) return while Alabama of the Southeast Conference will be making its debut. Twenty schools are running the Men's Collegiate Gold Race, highlighted by League rivals UI-C and UW-M.

Last season, Loyola won its fourth straight title in the men's gold race with senior Sam Romanoski, individual runner-up at the 2005 Horizon League Championships, leading the Ramblers with a sixth-place finish in 24:43. Sean Conroy followed Romanoski with a 17-place showing (25:07) while Andrew McQuillan placed 19th with a mark of 25:13. Robert Wade finished 20th (25:14) and junior Brent Cunningham completed the scoring with a 37th-place finish (25:24).

Amanda Domich paced the Rambler women with a 34th-place finish in 18:34 while freshman Jessie Morgenthal finished 38th (18:39) and Mary Bridget Corken captured 46th (18:42.) As a freshman, Ashley Raymond placed 76th with a time of 19:08 and sophomore Rachel Hansen took 77th place (19:09).

Romanoski and Ashley Raymond have been the respective top finishers for both Rambler teams in each of this season's first three meets. Loyola was impressive in the first meet of the season at the UIC Home Opener. The women got a decisive 23-36 victory over the host school, UIC, to claim first place individually among a six-team field at the UIC Home Opener. The men's team got their highest finish of the season at the meet, placing third with victories over UW-Green Bay (22-33), Chicago State (15-50) and St. Xavier (22-36).

Nike and Fleet Feet will be sponsoring the annual event featuring 69 colleges, 52 high schools and 16 elementary school squads in ten different races, making it one of the largest cross country meets in the nation.

In 2000, the Lakefront Invitational became the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational. The meet now honors former Loyola student-athlete Sean Earl, who passed away in February of 2000 after a battle with cancer. The Lakefront was renamed by Sean's teammates as a tribute to him so that future Ramblers would not forget about the outstanding qualities Sean exemplified while donning the maroon and gold.

Results from Saturday's 34th annual Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola Chicago, will be available after 4 p.m. CT on our web site, www.loyolaramblers.com. RESULTS WILL NOT BE FAXED OR EMAILED. A list of participating teams as well a schedule of races can be found below.

Schedule of Races
Elementary Boys/Girls 2000 meters 8:00 am
JV Boys/Girls Open 5000 meters 8:30 am
High School Boys Frosh/Soph 5000 meters 9:00 am
High School Girls Frosh/Soph 5000 meters 9:30 am
Elementary School Awards (Immediately following start above)
High School Boys Varsity 5000 meters 10:00 am
High School Girls Varsity 5000 meters 10:30 am
Men's Maroon Division Collegiate/Open 8000 meters 11:00 am
High School Awards (Immediately following start above)
Women's Maroon Division Collegiate/Open 5000 meters 11:45 am
Men's Gold Division Collegiate/Open 8000 meters 12:15 pm
Women's Gold Division Collegiate/Open 5000 meters 1:00 pm
Collegiate Awards 1:30 pm

Elementary
Abraham Lincoln, Ebinger, Elm, Francis W. Parker, Franklin Fine Arts Center, The Latin School of Chicago, Peterson, Pope John 23, Sacred Heart, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Benedict, St. Francis Xavier (Wilmette), St. Joseph (Wilmette), St. Paul of the Cross, St. Tarcissus, Schaumburg (Girls only), University of Chicago Lab School.

High School Frosh/Soph
Andrew (Girls only), Aurora East, Brookfield Central (Wis.) (Girls only), Brother Rice (Boys only), Centennial (Boys only), Cincinnati St. Ursula Academy (Girls only), Deerfield, Dundee-Crown, Fenwick (Girls only), Glenbard South, Glenbard West (Boys only), Hinsdale Central (Boys only), Lake View, Lake Zurich (Girls only), Lane Tech College Prep, The Latin School of Chicago, Lemont, Lincoln Park (Boys only), Loyola Academy, Lyons Township (Boys only), Minooka, Morton (Berwyn-Cicero) (Boys only), Mt. Carmel (Boys only), Northside College Prep, Oak Lawn Community, Oak Park-River Forest (Girls only), Payton Prep, Plainfield South, Proviso West (Boys only), Regina Dominican (Girls only), Resurrection (Girls only), Rickover Naval Academy, Ridgewood, St. Edward (Girls only), St. Ignatius, Schaumburg, Trinity (Girls only), University High Chicago (Boys only), Waukegan (Girls only), Wheaton North (Boys only), Whitney Young.

High School Varsity
Andrew (Girls only), Aurora East, Bradley - Bourbonnais (Girls only), Brookfield Central (Wis.) (Girls only), Brother Rice (Boys only), Centennial, Cincinnati St. Ursula Academy (Girls only), Col. Grandview Heights, Deerfield, Dundee-Crown, Fenton (Girls only), Fenwick (Girls only), Glenbard South, Glenbard West (Boys only), Glenwood, Hinsdale Central (Boys only), Hubbard, Kettering Archbishop Alter, Lake View, Lake Zurich (Girls only), Lane Tech College Prep, Lemont, Lincoln Park, Loyola Academy, Lyons Township (Boys only), Minooka, Morton (Berwyn-Cicero) (Boys only), Mt. Carmel (Boys only), New Trier, Northside College Prep, Oak Lawn Community, Oak Park-River Forest (Girls only), Payton Prep, Plainfield South, Prairie Ridge (Boys only), Proviso West (Girls only), Regina Dominican (Girls only), Resurrection (Girls only), Ridgewood, St. Gregory (Boys only), St. Ignatius College Prep, St. Edward, Schaumburg, Shawnee Mission East (Kan.), The Latin School of Chicago, Trinity (Girls only), University High Chicago, Waubonsee Valley (Boys only), Waukegan (Boys only), Wheaton North (Boys only), Wheeling (Girls only), Whitney Young.

Collegiate (Maroon)
Albion, Beloit, Calumet, Calvin, Carroll, Carthage (Men only), Case Western, College of DuPage (Men only), Concordia - St. Paul, Danville Area Community College, Dordt, Edgewood, Elgin Community College (Men only), Ferris State, Illinois Tech, Illinois XC & Track Club (Women only), Indianapolis, Joliet Junior College (Men only), Kalamazoo, Lake Forest, Lawrence, Lewis, Macalester, Maryville University - St. Louis, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Moraine Valley Community College, Morton, Mott Community College, Missouri - Rolla, Missouri Southern (Women only), North Park, Northwood, Pasco-Hernando C.C. (Women only), Prairie State, Saginaw Valley (Women only), St. Clair, St. Francis (Women only), St. Louis Pharmacy, St. Mary's (Women only), St. Norbert, St. Olaf (Women only), St. Xavier (Women only), Trinity Christian, UW-Parkside (Men only), Waubonsee Community College, Wilmington (Ohio), Wisconsin Track Club.

Collegiate (Gold)
Alabama (Women only), Chicago State, Creighton, Edinboro, Grand Valley State, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Illinois XC & Track Club (Men only), Loyola, Malone, Marquette, Marshall, Nebraska Wesleyan, Northwestern (Women only), Saginaw Valley (Men only), St. Xavier (Men only), Southern Illinois, Southwest Baptist, University of Chicago, University of Western Ontario, UW-Milwaukee, Western Illinois.