Loller Takes Third in 10K with Personal Record in Dr. Keeler Invitational

Anderson University women's track and field sophomore Noelle Loller (Lapel, Ind./Lapel) clocked a personal-record time of 38 minutes, 53.11 seconds in the 10K during the Dr. Keeler Invitational on Thursday in Naperville, Ill.

Loller took third place in the event. She currently ranks 73rd on the NCAA Division III leaderboard in the 10K. In Anderson school history, Loller ranks seventh in the 10K.

"I'm pretty happy with how my race went," Loller said. "There's a lot of good competition, so I'm excited for next year to see how much faster I can get, but it's a good starting point. I'm focusing on proper training, getting in the right mindset, staying healthy and getting stronger for next season. I think I've come a long way this year, even just from the Fall. Compared to last year, it's kind of amazing how far I have come honestly. Overall, I'm grateful to get the opportunity to compete again. We don't know if this can be taken away, so we should be grateful for every opportunity we get."

"We came up here with 3 goals - crack the NCAA top 50 for Academic All-American status, move up the AU all-time list and run a lifetime best," Coach Sol Stephens said. "She accomplished 2 of the 3 so we'll take the achievements and minor letdown and use them as building blocks into next year going into cross country season. 365 days ago, she was sitting at home wishing to be out competing and now, she's in a National qualifying race. We're going to use this experience to learn and prosper from it. She will prosper with a great health, patience and continued passion for running alongside her training group. Noelle has accomplished a lot this awkwardly masked season but to finish the year with a career best time, what more can we ask for? Knowing that she gave her best tonight is more than satisfying because again, that's the beauty of our fantastic sport. Sometimes people outrun, out throw or out jump but if you try your hardest and give your best when the time arises, a coach can't ask for more."

Senior Emily Smatlak (Lynnwood, Wash./Lynnwood) is set to compete in the javelin throw during the Dr. Keeler Invitational on Friday, which has an event start time of 2:30 p.m. ET.