UIC's Kirby, Loyola's Szykowny Earn Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Week Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- University of Illinois-Chicago’s Ariel Kirby (Lake Villa, Ill.) and Loyola’s Alison Szykowny (Palos Heights, Ill.) have been named the Horizon League’s Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 13 - 19.

Kirby, a freshman for the Flames, competed at the Panther Tune-Up over the weekend in the 400m dash. She finished with a time of 56.94 for first place. It is the first time in her collegiate career she has been named Athlete of the Week.

Szykowny notched her second Athlete of the Week honor this season after first and second place finishes in the weight throw and shot put events, respectively. Her 16.30m heave in the weight throw broke her own school record. The freshman also had a personal-best toss of 12.05m in the shot put.

UIC and Loyola will both head to Youngstown, Ohio this weekend for the Horizon League Indoor Championships (Feb. 25-26). The meet will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Women’s Track and Field Athletes of the Week:

Dec. 5: Kirsty Legg (Butler), Nicole Hudec (Butler)

Dec. 12: Cassandra Lloyd (Wright State), Nicole Hudec (Butler)

Jan. 9: Cassandra Lloyd (Wright State), Jessica Berry (Wright State)

Jan. 16: Samantha Hamilton (Youngstown State), Moriah Myles (Milwaukee)

Jan. 23: Kirsty Legg (Butler), Samia Taylor (Milwaukee)

Jan. 30: Katie Clark (Butler), Alison Szykowny (Loyola)

Feb. 6: Samantha Hamilton (Youngstown State), Kaitlyn Griffith (Youngstown State)

Feb. 13: Samantha Hamilton (Youngstown State), Sarah Drozdowski (Valparaiso)

Feb. 20: Ariel Kirby (UIC), Alison Szykowny (Loyola)