Loyola names outstanding athletes in golf, soccer

Armando Favela of Tijuana, Mexico and Cynthia Morote-Ariza of Chicago have been chosen as Loyola University Chicago's Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

A senior on the Ramblers' men's golf team, Favela graduated as the most decorated player in Loyola history. The left-hander earned All-Horizon League accolades for the third straight campaign this year and led the team with a 73.8 average, which ranks as the second-lowest mark in school annals. At the Horizon League Championships in April, he captured seventh place with a 54-hole score of 221 (76-76-69) to earn All-Tournament Team honors.

Morote-Ariza, a junior forward on Loyola's women's soccer squad, continued her assault on the record books in 2008 while helping the Ramblers to a share of the Horizon League regular-season title and 14 wins. The high-scoring, two-time Horizon League Player of the Year broke her own school records by recording 55 points and 19 assists in 2008, and her 18 goals finished one shy of her own single-season mark set during the 2007 season.

She is first player in Horizon League history to be named League Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

Morote-Ariza led the country with 19 assists, finished tied for sixth with 18 goals and tied for second nationally with 55 points last fall. She scored or assisted on a remarkable 37 of Loyola's 45 goals (82 percent) for the season.