Athletics
Loyola fields 17 varsity teams and 22 club teams. The varsity teams participate in the NCAA's Division I. Sixteen of its 18 athletic teams compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Men's lacrosse competes in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and women's lacrosse is an associate member of the Big East Conference. On August 29, 2012, Loyola accepted an invitation to join the Patriot League beginning July 1, 2013 in advance of the 2013–14 academic and athletic year. Loyola has a student success rate for graduation of over 90% of its student athletes.
The school's mascot is a Greyhound, and field sports are played at the Ridley Athletic Complex, located a few minutes from the Evergreen Campus on Cold Spring Lane. Loyola's men's and women's lacrosse teams are particularly noteworthy as both have appeared in numerous NCAA tournaments, and are highly ranked most years. The men's soccer team has also enjoyed a great deal of success over time, winning the NCAA Division II National Championship in 1976, appearing various times in the NCAA Division I Tournament, and garnering several national rankings since its ascension into Division I in 1982.±
Philip Scholz, a Paralympian, is an alumnus of the varsity men's swimming team. Scholz is blind and holds various records for Paralympic swimming. Joe Wise, a paralympian, is a current student and member of the Loyola University Men's Swim Team. Wise is a resident of Menlo Park, California. Wise swam in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and the 2012 London Paralympic Games. He holds several records for swimming in the United States. Katie Hoff, an Olympic medal winner, coached swimming at Loyola and attended classes at the school before leaving Baltimore to live in Fullerton, California. Brennan Morris, a member of the US National Team, is also a record-setting member of the swim team.
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