June 9, 2017
By Megan Golden
EUGENE, Ore. — On the third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, University of Notre Dame high jumper Matthew Birzer tied for 13th in the high jump on Friday at Hayward Field.
Birzer, a sophomore, made his debut at the outdoor championships and cleared the 2.08m mark before barely missing the 2.13m bar. The Leawood, Kansas, native earned Second Team All-America honors.
On Wednesday, senior Nate Richartz placed ninth in the men’s pole vault final. Richartz checked in to the pole vault at the 5.15m (16-10.75) mark and ultimately was one of nine athletes to clear the 5.45m (17-10.5) mark. Richartz’s ninth-place finish landed him on the All-America Second Team.
A senior from Island Lake, Illinois, Richartz competed in the second outdoor national championship of his career. Richartz, who won his second career ACC Championship in May, cleared 5.45m (17-10.5) and tied for sixth place at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships earlier this year.
On Thursday, the Irish women’s middle-distance duo of junior Jessica Harris and graduate student Danielle Aragon advanced to the 1,500m final in back-to-back semifinal heats of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday at Hayward Field.
Harris (4:12.14), who led the pack for the majority of the race, secured the second-fastest at-large time to qualify for the final race. Aragon (4:19.13) placed third in her heat, finishing .05 seconds behind her sister, Stanford freshman Christina Aragon (4:19.08).
The Aragon sisters ran in front of their parents and oldest sister, Irish alumna Alexa Aragon. For the second time this week and the third time in their careers (the other being in cross country), the two will compete against one another in Saturday’s 1,500m final.
In her first career race at iconic Hayward Field, Irish sophomore Anna Rohrer finished 16th overall in the 10,000m final at the outdoor championships.
A four-time Atlantic Coast Conference Champion, Rohrer came just short of winning her first national title, recording a 33:56.64 mark in her fourth career 10,000m race.
Rohrer, who entered the meet with the top women’s collegiate time in the 10,000m at 31:58.99, concludes her first outdoor track season with Second Team All-America accolades.
Irish Schedule
Saturday, June 10:
6:41 p.m. Jessica Harris & Danielle Aragon Women’s 1,500m Final
Meet Coverage
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast by the ESPN Family of Networks for the duration of the meet. See the complete broadcast schedule below.
Saturday, June 10:
5:30 p.m. ESPN3
9:30 p.m. ESPN
Fans are encouraged to view the entire event schedule here.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish track and field program, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.