Through two days of competition, Loyola’s men’s and women’s track and field teams clawed their way to top-5 finishes in the conference meet while also landing athletes atop of the podium.

At the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships, the women’s team finished third overall while the men’s team placed in fifth.

Senior Taylor Hagins, environmental studies sophomore Walter Ramsey, biology sophomore Cecilia Terracina and popular and commercial music junior Tristin Sanders each one the crown in their respective events.

On April 19, Hagins kicked off the meet in the hammer throw. She broke the school record yet again with a throw of 43.76 meters and the conference crown. Ramesy won the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:22.53 while business analytics sophomore Daniel Welch placed in second and freshman Phoenix Aquino-Thomas placed third.

For the second day of competition, Terracina claimed the title in women’s pole vault for the second year in a row. She won the event with a career-high leap of 2.47 meters.

For the fourth meet in a row, Sanders broke the school record in the women’s 800-meter run. She crossed the finish line with a time of 2:20.43 and the overall win.

Other notable performances include:

• Shannon Hester – threw a season-best in the women’s javelin at 32.94 meters to place in third.
• Taylor Hagins – earned a personal-best in the women’s discus with a toss of 37.76 meters and a second-place finish.
• Jarrett Richard – placed third in the men’s 200-meter-dash and fifth in the 100-meter-dash.
• Mikaela Vanek – placed fifth in women’s 400-meter hurdles,
• Patrick Kalob – placed fourth in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.
• Diamond Pearson – finished sixth in the women’s 100-meter-dash with a new personal best and placed seventh in the 200-meter-dash.
• Walter Ramsey – finished second in the men’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:07.28