PLAYTIME WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD


True grit (and a lot of practice)


Perseverence pays off for senior runner Gina Valgoi


suburban Detroit. But despite earning all-state honors five times, Valgoi didn’t attract many col- lege recruiters. One school that showed interest was Loyola,


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and over the course of her four years on the cross country team and the indoor and outdoor track teams, Valgoi has proven to be a worthy choice. Now in her senior year, Valgoi, an accounting


major and bioethics minor, is setting records. She was recently named second-team All-American for the 5,000m run by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The honor is limited to the nation’s top 16 female runners in the 5,000m at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Valgoi was also the first female runner from


Loyola to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, where she posted her second- fastest time ever, finishing 104th out of a field of 253 runners. If she performs well enough this spring and


makes the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Champi- onships, Valgoi would become the first female runner from Loyola to qualify for three national championships. Her list of accomplishments has grown each


year at Loyola, prompting her coach, Randy Hasen- bank, to marvel over how much she’s grown.


ina Valgoi is living proof of the ad- age, “slow and steady wins the race.” She was an accomplished


long-distance runner at Regina High School, an all-girls school in


“If you look at Gina’s marks out of


high school, they were good, but she was not a superstar. She worked hard every year and keeps getting better. She earned her stripes,” Hasenbank says. Now at the top of her game, Valgoi can


reflect on her steady, deliberate growth rate. “I’ve just always been slow. I never do any-


thing fast. But I do make progress,” Valgoi says. Progress, indeed. During her senior year, Val-


goi has already helped lead her teammates in capturing the Horizon League Championships in both cross country and indoor track & field. Her personal honors have included Horizon League Cross Country Athlete of the Year, top finishes in a number of long-distance races, and the shattering of a number of school records for the mile, 5,000m and 3,000m races. “My two goals when I came to Loyola were


to be a contributing factor to the team and to consistently improve,” Valgoi says. “I’m continuing to work hard. I like pushing myself.” Her continual improvement has Valgoi con-


templating a running career after graduation. She would like to compete in the USA Track & Field Na- tional Championships, with an eye toward qualify- ing for the Olympic Trials in 2016. She knows those are lofty ideals, but she’s not afraid. “You have to have goals,” she explains. “For


some reason, I’ve always been able to rise to the next level. It all depends on how hard you work.” Right now, Valgoi is focused on doing well in


the outdoor track & field season and representing her school. “I’m so grateful to Loyola for enabling me to be


a part of the team and to attend college,” Valgoi said. “I want to do well for my team and I want to give back to Loyola.”


Senior cross-country runner Gina Valgoi worked hard to improve her times


32 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO


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