Maeve Lowther set a school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Caroline Blakeslee matched her best-ever fourth-place finish for a Loyola University Maryland woman at the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 16. The Greyhounds’ 4×100-meter relay team also reached the podium for the first time in school history during the final day of competition.
The event was significant as it marked several milestones for Loyola. The women’s track and field team finished seventh overall, matching their highest placement since joining the conference in 2014.
The relay squad of Lauryn Clarke, Maddie Van Haren, Gabby Snowden, and Blakeslee finished second in their event with a time of 46.31 seconds—just seven-hundredths of a second behind Navy. This performance is now recognized as the second fastest time ever recorded by Loyola’s women’s team in this event.
Shortly before that race, Lowther broke a school record that had stood since May 13, 2011. She completed the steeplechase in fourth place with a time of 10:42.71, surpassing Victoria Szczawinski’s previous mark by more than three seconds.
Blakeslee continued her strong showing by running a personal-best time of 24.12 seconds to secure fourth place in the 200 meters—the second-fastest result in program history for that distance. In addition to these highlights, Blakeslee joined Olivia Dever, Van Haren and Clarke to post a season-best time of 3:48.57 and finish seventh in the closing event—the women’s 4×400-meter relay.
Other notable performances included Kayla Hayes and Mackenzie Newman setting personal bests while finishing thirty-third and thirty-ninth respectively in the women’s 5,000 meters.
