April 27, 2018
Penn Relays Saturday Schedule
By Matt Paras
PHILAELPHIA, Pa. – Heading into the 2018 Penn Relays, the Irish looked to have strong results in a number of relay events over the course of the weekend. The Irish did just that Friday at Franklin Field by winning the women’s Shuttle Hurdles Championship of America Invitational and finishing runner-up in the men’s Distance Medley Championship of America Invitational.
The relay team of Grace Cronin, Naya Sharp, Madysen Hunter and Summer Thorpe took the win in the shuttle hurdles relay with a time of 54.87. The Irish edged out South Carolina, who entered the race with the fastest seed time. The team claimed the first women’s win in a Championship of America event. The Irish won two men’s COA titles back in 1943. Cronin, Sharp and Thorpe all raced in the relay last year and finished sixth overall.
The men’s distance medley relay team of Jacob Dumford (2:57.70-1200m), Zachary Zajdel (47.90-400m), Kirk Hansen (1:50.90-800m) and Yared Nuguse (3:58.69-1600m) followed the women’s lead from the first day of the Penn Relays. They also finished second overall in the Distance Medley Championship of America Invitational with a time of 9:35.18. They finished less than a second behind Villanova, who also won the women’s distance medley relay.
The women’s 4x100m relay was back on the track for the college final Friday afternoon. Thorpe, Kyla Lewis, Michaela Butler and Jordan Shead had a strong race but were just edged out by Penn. The Irish finished runner-up in the event with a time of 45.44, just 0.02 seconds behind the Quakers.
Thorpe finished her day in the 100m hurdles prelims. She won the second heat with a time of 13.76. With the heat win, Thorpe advances to the Championship event, which is scheduled for Saturday at 3:15pm.
Sophomore Troy Pride Jr. was back at Franklin Field for his second appearance of the outdoor season. Pride Jr. made his season debut last year at the Penn Relays but this was his second appearance of 2018 after running in the Hurricane Invitational. Pride Jr. competed in two events, the 100m dash prelims and the 4x200m relay. Pride finished 10th in the 100m dash (10.76) and 14th in the relay (1:27.65).
The Irish picked up a pair of top-10 finishes in the infield on Friday. Freshman Gabrielle Diederich finished sixth out of a field of 29 athletes in the women’s javelin throw. Her best throw of the afternoon traveled 43.11m (141-5). Hunter Holton finished ninth in the collegiate high jump after clearing 2.04m (6-8.25). Matthew Birzer will be jumping in the High Jump Championship Saturday afternoon.
Gina Relays
A number of Irish athletes traveled to Hillsdale College for the annual Gina Relays this weekend.
Freshman Annasophia Keller set a personal record in the women’s 3000m steeplechase (10:44.11) and finished second overall. She shaved over eight seconds off her previous best mark that she set at the Louisville Invitational.
Rachel DaDamio earned a top-three finish in the 1500m Championship. She ran a season-best time of 4:27.81 and finished third out of 26 runners. Stephanie Knight also ran in the 1500m and finished 12th with a 4:35.46. Her time was less than a second behind her personal record that she set last week at the Virginia Challenge.
Kevin Pulliam finished the night for the Irish in the 10000m run. He finished fourth overall with a time of 31:08.41. This was the first race for Pulliam since the East Regionals in Lexington last outdoor season.
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Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.