After a very successful indoor season in which a number of school records were broken, the Loyola University Maryland indoor track team will be seeking its best-ever finish when the Greyhounds compete for the Patriot League Indoor Championship this weekend at Lehigh University.

Action begins at Rauch Field House on the Lehigh campus on Saturday, February 29 at 1:00 p.m. The two-day meet resumes at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. 

"The Patriot League is a very strong conference for track and we are proving ourselves every year," Head Coach Amy Horst said. "The way we carry ourselves has really changed. We own our space. It is very exciting and challenging at the same time."

Seniors Heather Merrifield and Kayleigh Caggiano are two of the leaders of the Greyhounds' program. 

Last year, Merrifield was the ECAC outdoor champion in the 400-hurdles. A native of Hughesville, Pa., Merrifield has been one of the team's record-breakers this season. 

In addition to running on the distance medley relay team that broke a  school record at the Millrose Games, she has set the school record in the 400. 

"The growth of this program has been so natural," says Merrifield. "We have had an amazing season, and we are really very motivated for this weekend."

Caggiano is also a member of the record-setting distance medley relay team. A talented middle-distance runner, she has also been a four-year member of the Greyhounds' cross country team.
She is also part of the school record-holding 4x800 relay and distance medley relay teams.

"This has been a good year for us," says Caggiano. "We are continuing to improve, and we have shown a lot of composure. Heather and I are following in the way we were shown by senior leaders on previous teams. Our coaches have done a very good job strategically picking athletes who want to work hard and want to get better. That has made us a stronger team."

For the first time ever, the Greyhounds will bring a defending league champion to the Patriot League Indoor Meet. Junior Senna Ohlsson is the conference's defending champion in the 800, winning the title last season. She became the first Loyola athlete to win a Patriot League individual title.

Ohlsson owns school records in the 500, the 600 and the 1000 runs. She is also part of three record-setting relay teams, and she continued her winning ways during the 2019 outdoor season, taking the Patriot League title at that competition.

At last year's meet, two of the Greyhounds' relay teams turned in very strong performances, helping Loyola match its best finish ever with a seventh-place showing.

Led by Mary Ellen Woods, Carly Spinnler, Caggiano and Ohlsson, the 4x800 relay team took second, and the 4x400 relay team, led by Molly Smith, Courtney Kenney, Merrifield and Ohlsson, finished fourth.
 
"We have a great group of experienced athletes who will be competing for us this weekend," said Horst.