Sports – College Admission at Loyola

We Are The Champions

By | November 1, 2012

Loyola Cross Country! Loyola Cross Country! Loyola Cross Country!

Have you heard the news?? BOTH men’s and women’s cross country team won first place at their conference meet on Saturday!!! They were phenomenal!

Considering two of my roommates run cross country and track for Loyola, I am very involved in following how the cross country team does and I am an avid fan. But because of the nature of the sport, my support usually has to stop at the door of our apartment. The cross country team only has one home meet and most others are far away so it is not often that I get to cheer on my roommates in person. But this weekend I got the chance!

Their conference meet was in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenosha is about an hour away from campus so we knew it was not too far away and were prepared to borrow a friends car to drive there. We found out a few weeks ago though that the school would be providing a bus to transport any students who wanted to go cheer on our Ramblers for free! It was awesome!

The bus left campus at 9:00 am Saturday and by 10:30 we were at the course in Kenosha ready to cheer on the team! The girls ran first and did amazing. My roommates came in 2nd and 15th overall with times of 18:03 and 18:51 for the 5K. They did so good that both of them qualified to go to regionals and will be racing in two weeks in Missouri.

Not only did both teams win first, but Loyola runners won first in the individual division as well! GinaValgoi came in first for the women with a time of 17:05. For the men, Sam Penzenstadler finished first in the 8K with a time of 24:59.

We are super excited to see how our Ramblers match up at the regional meet November 9, 2012.

We came to cheer on Mary Whitmore (middle) who finished with a time of 18:51.

Celebrating her amazing race by lifting her up!

A Little Taste Of College Football Saturdays

By | September 18, 2012

It seems that Fall and football Saturdays are a trademark of the American college experience. Because of this, one of the big questions family and friends from home often ask me is: do you wish Loyola had a football team?

I never quite know how to answer. To be honest, there are times when I see pictures on Facebook of my friends tailgating in cute, school-spirited outfits and at football games where there are thousands of people all cheering on the same team, and I find myself jealous. I have to then ask myself the question, would I give up the Loyola city lifestyle for fall football games?

The answer is always the same: never!

I had the opportunity to visit some high school friends at Michigan State University this weekend. They had a home game against Ohio State and I got to be involved in all of the tailgating and game watching I always get jealous of.

I had a really good time! It was fun and really good to see some old friends. It did, however, reinforce my feelings that I would not trade schools even if I had the chance to.

My friends at Michigan State University do get to participate in football activities for a number of weeks in the Fall, but then football ends in November and its all over until the next year. Chicago has a never ending list of things going on and activities to do.

For sport fans, we may not a football team but we do have the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cubs. We also have Loyola athletic teams such as soccer, volleyball, cross country, basketball, golf, rugby, and many more.

Aside from sports, Chicago always seems to have something new and exciting to do on the weekend. Next weekend, for example, I have family coming into town from Nebraska (because everyone always wants to visit you when you live in Chicago!) The following weekend I am going to Loyola’s Lakefront Cross Country meet to cheer on our Ramblers. Then on Sunday I am participating in the AIDS run/walk.

I enjoyed my time being a Michigan State Spartan for a day, but I am glad to be back at Loyola for the next few weeks and look forward to the rest of the semester!