Jan. 31, 2012

CHICAGO - Track and field junior Declan Murray (Strongsville, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) and freshman women's basketball student-athlete Simone Law (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) have been chosen as Loyola University Chicago's Male and Female Athlete of the Month respectively, for the month of January it was announced today.

Murray got the first month of the calendar year off to a rousing start by placing second in the 1,000m with a time of 2:24.94, just 79 one-hundredths of a second behind the winner, at the New Year's Classic hosted by the University of Iowa on January 14.

One week later, the junior, who was the Horizon League champion and a NCAA Regional qualifier in the outdoor 800m in 2011, established a new school record in the 600m with a time of 1:18.67 at the Gladstein Invitational hosted by Indiana University. His time surpassed Bob O'Connor's previous record time of 1:19.10 set back in 1966. Murray's 600m mark is his second Loyola record as he also sits atop the school's outdoor 800m list.

In addition to finishing third in the 400m (49.26) at the Gladstein Invitational, Murray was also part of the 4x400m relay team that came up fractions of a second shy of another school record, missing the all-time mark by 21 one-hundredths of a second (3:15.47).

Law collected Loyola Female Athlete of the Month honors after contributing 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and connecting on 55 percent (43 for 77) of her field goal attempts, in six contests during the month of January. The 6-foot forward scored in double digits in each of her six January appearances and topped the 20-point plateau on three occasions.

Tabbed the Horizon League Women's Basketball Co-Player of the Week on January 16, Law registered 21 points and 10 rebounds at Youngstown State (Jan. 12) and 14 points and 10 boards at Cleveland State (Jan. 14) as the Ramblers swept the weekend road trip.

In a January 7 contest versus Detroit, Law notched 22 points and nine rebounds, and in her final appearance of the month, totaled 24 points and hauled in six rebounds versus Butler on January 21.

For the season, Law is averaging team highs of 14.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg.