Feb. 18, 2006
Men’s Results | Women’s Results
AKRON, Ohio – Both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams currently stand in fourth place following the first day of competition at the 2006 BIG EAST Indoor Championships, being held at the University of Akron Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio. The Irish men, who are the defending champions, have 27 points, putting them just behind Louisville (37), Rutgers (29) and Pittsburgh (28) in the team standings. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame women, who have finished first or second the past four years, are in a three-way tie with Rutgers and Georgetown at 18 points, trailing defending champion Pittsburgh (34), Syracuse (20) and Providence (20).
Much of Saturday’s action at the BIG EAST Championships was devoted to preliminary heats on the track, although some finals were contested. However, veteran Irish head coach Joe Piane said he was encouraged with his teams’ performances on day one.
“The main key on the first day of this meet is to have as many of your athletes qualified for the finals in their events, and I thought we did about as well as we could have hoped for, especially on the women’s side,” Piane noted. “Both Maryann (Erigha) and Okechi (Ogbuokiri) are near the top of the qualifiers in the sprints, and we have a chance to pick up some ground there. I also thought we got some good work from our men’s and women’s distance runners, so I think we’ve put ourselves in a position to be competitive when the final events roll around on Sunday afternoon.”
On the men’s side, Notre Dame picked up one event title on Saturday, as the distance medley relay team successfully defended its crown from a year ago, winning in 9:51.47. Senior Vinny Ambrico (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Choate Rosemary Hall Academy) ran a sizzling anchor leg for the Irish and surged past Villanova (9:51.73) and Georgetown (9:51.93) down the stretch to put Notre Dame atop the podium. What made the victory even more special was the fact it was done with virtually an entirely different unit from the one that won the race last year at Syracuse. Sophomore Brett Adams (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) was the lone holdover and picked up his third career all-BIG EAST citation, as did Ambrico (two indoors, one outdoors). Junior Todd Ptacek (Benton Harbor, Mich./Lake Michigan Catholic) led off the relay and earned his second all-conference nod (both indoors), while sophomore Austin Wechter (Shelby, Ohio/Shelby) carried the mail in the middle of the event and garnered his first career all-BIG EAST plaque.
The Irish men also made big strides in the 5,000 meters, collecting 16 points in the event. Senior Kaleb Van Ort (Waterloo, Ind./DeKalb) led the charge with a runner-up finish (and his fifth career all-conference selection, third indoors) in a personal-best time of 14:09.73, a mark that also met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. Senior Tim Moore (Novi, Mich./Novi) took third place in 14:11.48, sewing up his sixth all-BIG EAST honor (fifth indoors). Senior A.J. Andrassy (Bay Village, Ohio/St. Ignatius) also contributed points at the conference meet for the first time in his career, finishing seventh in a personal-best time of 14:28.30.
The Notre Dame men did have one setback on Saturday, as junior All-America distance runner Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ontario/Walkerton D.S.S.) was scratched from all events at the BIG EAST meet with a sore Achilles tendon. Benninger already has automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the mile (3:58.77) and 3,000 meters (7:52.28), with both times ranking third in the nation this season. He is expected to recover in time to participate at the NCAA meet March 10-11 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Top finishes for Notre Dame in the women’s competition on Saturday went to the distance medley relay team, which came in third and rewarded all four runners with their first career all-BIG EAST citations. Senior All-American Stephanie Madia (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) also captured third place in the 5,000 meters, garnering her sixth career all-conference plaque (fourth indoors). Freshman Alyissa Hasan (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) placed fourth in the pentathlon with 3,647 points, just missing all-BIG EAST honors, her own school record (3,655) and the NCAA provisional qualifying mark (3,700).
Both Notre Dame teams will be back in action starting Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Much of the finals on the track will be contested on Sunday, along with the final three events in the men’s heptathlon and half of the field events.
A complete recap of the first day’s action at the BIG EAST Championships follows:
Pentathlon
Freshman Alyissa Hasan looked sharp in her first-ever BIG EAST meet with her fourth-place finish (3,647 points), and in the final event (800 meters), she came within a few seconds of hitting several milestones — school record (0.24 seconds shy), all-BIG EAST consideration (2.24 seconds) and the NCAA provisional qualifying standard (4.03 seconds) … senior Stacey Cowan also scored for the Irish, finishing eighth with a season-best total of 3,505 points … sophomore Kate Jannazo was 14th with 2,416 points, although she was hampered by a disqualification in the opening event (60m hurdles) when she inadvertently pushed a hurdle with her hand.
Heptathlon
Freshman Gonzalo Brenner is in 12th place after the first four events of the competition with 2,357 points … freshman Tray Morgan is 14th overall with 2,328 points … Rutgers’ Trevor O’Grady leads with 3,156 points.
60-meter dash
Junior Maryann Erigha won her qualifying heat in 7.46 seconds (just 0.01 seconds behind Rutgers’ Shameka Marshall and Connecticut’s Jessica Foreman) to book a spot in Sunday’s final.
No Irish men qualified for the BIG EAST Championship in this event.
200-meter dash
Erigha turned in the fastest qualifying time of the day, winning her heat in 24.06 seconds to advance to the finals.
No Irish men qualified for the BIG EAST Championship in this event.
400-meter dash
Junior Okechi Ogbuokiri led all sprinters with a time of 55.51 seconds to win her preliminary heat on Saturday.
On the men’s side, senior Ryan Postel qualified for Sunday’s finals with a runner-up finish in his afternoon heat (48.38 seconds), posting the fourth-fastest time of the day.
500-meter dash
Sophomore Austin Wechter claimed the 10th and final qualifying spot with a season-best time of 1:04.15, edging out classmate Bob Kueny, who ran a personal-best 1:04.55.
No Irish women qualified for the BIG EAST Championship in this event.
800-meter run
Sophomore Jacqueline Carter posted the third-fastest time of the afternoon (2:11.44) and reserved a place in Sunday’s final.
Notre Dame will have two runners in the final, as junior Thomas Chamney cruised to a win in his heat (1:53.77), and sophomore John Cavanaugh placed third in his preliminary with a slightly quicker time than his teammate (1:52.78).
1000-meter run
Junior Brianne Schmidt will represent the Irish in Sunday’s final, clocking a time of 2:51.25 that was seventh-best on the day.
Junior Todd Ptacek led all men’s qualifiers with a personal-best time of 2:25.51 and finds his way into the finals. He will be joined by sophomore Adam Currie, who secured the last qualifying spot in 2:28.62.
Mile
With Kurt Benninger sidelined (sore Achilles), sophomore Jake Watson and freshman Daniel Clark capably represented Notre Dame and each advanced to the finals … Watson finished third in his heat in 4:09.25, while Clark was fourth in his preliminary with a time of 4:20.21.
No preliminary heats were run on the women’s side.
5,000-meter run
Senior Stephanie Madia finished third in a season-best time of 16:18.34, collecting her sixth all-BIG EAST citation (four indoor, two outdoor).
Senior Kaleb Van Ort led a 2-3 Irish finish, waging a strong stretch duel with Providence senior Martin Fagan before settling for second place in a time of 14:09.73 (0.29 behind Fagan); it was Van Ort’s fifth career all-BIG EAST performance (third indoors) … senior Tim Moore was third in a time of 14:11.48, earning his sixth all-conference plaque (fifth indoors) … senior A.J. Andrassy contributed two points to the Irish cause with his seventh-place finish in a personal-best time of 14:28.30.
Distance medley relay
The Notre Dame men successfully defended their BIG EAST title, winning in 9:51.47 … senior Vinny Ambrico ran a 4:06 split on his anchor leg and passed runners from both Villanova and Georgetown over the final 100 meters to secure the win … junior Todd Ptacek, sophomore Austin Wechter and sophomore Brett Adams also ran for the Irish, with Adams being the lone holdover from last year’s conference DMR champion.
The Irish women placed third in a time of 11:37.41, earning the first career all-BIG EAST citation for each of the four runners — freshmen Ramsey Kavan and Nicole Yergler, sophomore Jacqueline Carter and junior Amy Kohlmeier.
60-meter hurdles
Sophomore Domenique Manning came up short of qualifying for Sunday’s final at 8.84 seconds, placing 10th overall and third in her heat.
Sophomore Jose Genao also did not advance to the finals, finishing 10th in the preliminaries (fourth in his heat) with a time of 8.40 seconds.
Long jump
Freshman Mary Saxer just missed scoring points for the Irish in the event, soaring 18′ 2.25″ (5.54m) on her final jump to place ninth overall.
Junior Christopher Jacques placed 15th with his best leap being 21′ 5.25″ (6.53m).
Weight throw
Both Irish women logged personal bests in the event, with senior Meghan Horn being the top Notre Dame finisher in 10th place (52′ 0.5″, 15.86m). Freshman Anna Weber came in 13th place with a heave of 51″ 0.75″ (15.56m).
Junior Garet Koxlien came through on his final toss of the day with a mark of 57′ 3″ (17.45m) that moved him into eighth place and garnered a point for Notre Dame in the team standings … sophomore Kyle Annen wound up 11th (54′ 1.25″, 16.49m), while junior Kevin Moffitt was 13th (49′ 3.75″, 15.03m).
Pole vault
Junior Justin Oppel tied for 10th with a top clearance of 14′ 3.25″ (4.35m); the mark actually equalled that of eighth-place finisher Jamie Stanley of Rutgers, but Stanley was awarded the eighth position (and one team point) by virtue of fewer misses … junior Dave Viken passed on attempts at lower heights (4.20m, 4.35m), but failed to clear on three tries at 14′ 9″ (4.50m).
— ND —