Jan. 18, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams opened up 2008 when they played host to the Notre Dame Indoor Opener on Friday evening at the Loftus Sport Center. The Irish men and women made a strong showing in the one-day event, earning multiple individual victories as well as notching BIG EAST qualifying times.
It was a triple threat for the Irish in the women’s long jump. Notre Dame’s Jaime Minor, Mary Saxer and Jasmine Williams took the top three spots to knock out the competition. Minor took the title with a jump of 16-10 ¾ while Saxer finished second (16-10 ½) and Williams finished third (16-8 ¾).
There was another trio of top Irish athletes in the women’s mile with Notre Dame taking second through fourth place. Marissa Treece finished first for the Irish in the second spot with a Notre Dame top time of the season, 5:01.96. Amy Kohlmeier and Sunni Olding finished right behind Treece for third and fourth, respectively, staying neck and neck until the finish line with respective times of 5:02.30 and 5:02.38. All three earned BIG EAST spots with their qualifying times.
Anna Weber was victorious in two events, taking the title in the weight throw with a toss of 58-3 and the shot put with a toss of 44-11 ½. Her weigh throw toss was a season best for the junior and bettered her distance for BIG EAST Qualifying. Following Weber in the shot put was teammate Jaclyn Espinoza finishing second with a throw of 42-9 ¾.
In the men’s weight throw it was all Greg Davis as he took the title, dominating over the field. Davis finished with a best throw of 57-8 ¼, throwing two feet or more against his competitors. His teammate throwers found success later on in the competition in the shot put, with Denes Veres taking second (54-2), Mike Schubert taking third (53-5 ¾) and Brandon Drenon finishing fourth (52-9 ½).
It was another win for the Irish when Daniel Clark finished with a time of 4:14.97 in the mile. His time was two seconds faster than the next finisher and notched him the fastest time for Notre Dame this season. His time was also a BIG EAST qualifying time as well.
Joanna Schultz and Cora Dayon were the top finishers for Notre Dame in the 400-meter dash. Schultz won the event with a time a 56.87 while teammate Dayon finished close behind in second with a time of 57.25. Schultz went on to find success later on during the meet in the 200-meter dash, taking second with a time of 24.98
Kelly Langhans had a strong showing in the 800-meter run. In her first attempt running the event this season, she finished in the top spot with a BIG EAST qualifying time of 2:16.90. Teammate Natalie Johnson came in close behind Langhans in third place with a time of 2:20.05.
Multi-event competitor Alyissa Hassan had a strong day in her events, preparing for future pentathlons. Hassan was the top competitor in the high jump, winning the event with a leap of 5-7 ¼. It was a career best for Hassan in the event, beating out her previous mark of 5-2 ½. Hassan’s other top event was the 60-meter hurdles. Her time of 8.64 was good enough for second place.
The Notre Dame triumvirate of Balazs Molnar, Billy Buzaid and Jack Howard proved successful in the 800-meter run. Molnar took the title, 1:52.31, with Buzaid and Howard following in second and third with times of 1:53.93 and 1:54.85, respectively. Each earned BIG EAST qualifications with their efforts.
Miklos Szebeny, first in the 60-meter dash with a BIG EAST qualifying time of 6.93. Won by nearly a second with the second-place finisher coming in with a time of 7.02. This was the first time he ran the distance with Notre Dame and is the fastest time for the Irish this season. Tyrell Atkins came in behind in fourth-place with a time of 7.11, a new season best for the freshman.
Mary Saxer, first in the pole vault with a height of 3.40, 11-1 3/4s. Chelsea Wackernagel of Hillsdale matched the height, but the victory went to Saxer with less scratches.
Austin Wechter took the individual title in the 500-meter dash. His time of 1:04.59 was both a season best as well as a BIG EAST qualifying time.
Jacqueline Carter ran a BIG EAST qualifying time in the 2:57.41 in the 1,000-meter race. Her time was good enough for third place and is also the fastest time in the event for the Irish this season.
Eric Quick finished fourth in the long jump with a distance of 22-7. The jump was not only a BIG EAST qualifying distance, but also a career best, beating out his previous best of 21-8 ¾. Quick went on later to take the title in the triple jump with a season-best jump of 46-6 ¾, bettering his BIG EAST qualification.
Jamal Afridi and Jim Notwell both ran BIG EAST qualifying time in the 1,000-meter run. This was the first time each ran the event, notching qualifying times in their first tries. Afridi ran a time of 2:28.72 for third place, while Notwell finished close behind with a time of 2:29.30 in fourth place.
–ND–