New Orleans, La.- Loyola’s Vanessa Righeimer and Abraham Thacker qualified for the 2011 NAIA Track and Field Championships by reaching the qualifying standards at the Rock N’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon this past weekend.
Righeimer, a freshman from Chicago, broke her own school record for the half marathon as she completed the 13.1 mile course in a time of 1:33.27. She met the “B” standard qualifying time of 1.36.00 for the 2011 NAIA Track and Field Championships. Thacker, a freshman from Covington, ran the full marathon and unofficially set a Loyola record with a time of 2.47.59. Thacker also met the “B” standard qualifying time of 2:50.00 for the 2011 NAIA Track and Field Championships. The 2011 NAIA Track and Field Championships will be held on May 26-28 on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.