Feb. 17, 2013
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GENEVA, Ohio – On the strength of championships in three individual events and a relay and 14 all-BIG EAST honorees in 10 events, the University of Notre Dame women’s track and field team brought home its third BIG EAST indoor title and first since 2006, Sunday afternoon at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
The Irish compiled 141 points, which is a new school record for points at the conference indoor championship, topping 2005’s total of 140 by one point. Notre Dame blew past the field, topping second place Connecticut by 32 points. The top-three finish at the indoor championships was the eighth in program history and the first since 2007.
Earning individual championships were Jade Barber (60m Hurdles), Michelle Brown (400m) and Rebecca Tracy (Mile). The 4x400m relay team composed of J. Barber, Michelle Brown, Margaret Bamgbose and Megan Yanik also brought home a title.
J. Barber, who earned all-BIG EAST honors in three events, tied Villanova’s Emily Lipari for most outstanding track performer honors. She becomes the first woman in Notre Dame history to earn the honor at the BIG EAST indoor meet.
The men’s team took second with 105.5 points, while first place Connecticut had 142. The finish was the 18th time in 18 years in the league that Notre Dame has finished in the top three.
A pair of Irish standouts claimed titles, as Ted Glasnow won the seven-event heptathlon, while junior Patrick Feeney won his third 400m indoor title in a row.
Six men’s performers earned all-BIG EAST honors in six events, led by sophomore Chris Giesting’s three scrolls in the 200m, 500m and 4x400m relay.
Feeney’s 400m run (46.12) set a new school and meet record.
Jade Barber additional set a individual school record in the 60mH crossing the line at 8.23.
Brendan Dougherty, Chris Giesting, Jarrod Buchanon and Patrick Feeney each contributed to a new school record in the 4×400 with a time of 3:08.28.
COMPLETE RESULTS
MEN’S EVENTS
5,000m (finals): Jake Kildoo placed fourth in the finals with a time of 14.21.80.
Pole Vault (finals): David Schipper got on the board for the Irish, tying for sixth with Marquette’s John Kaplan with a height of 4.65m.
Long Jump (finals): Logan Renwick (fourth-7.13m) and Keith Mesidor (seventh-7.06m) each scored for the Irish.
Distance Medley Relay (finals): DJ Thornton, Aaron Dunn, Jack Favorite and Michael Clevenger finished seventh with a time of 10:01.53.
Weight Throw (finals): Anthony Thomas picks up four points for the Irish (fifth-18.51m) in the final 35LB weight throw
Heptathlon: Ted Glasnow won the event and nearly set a new BIG EAST meet record with a total of 5,493 points. It marks as a personal best as he compiled a total of 5,104 points at the Bob Eubanks Open this year. Glasnow set a personal record in the 60m hurdles (fifth event) with a time of 8.67 and nearly beat the school record previously set by Justin Schneider back in 2009 with a total of 5,497 points.
Triple Jump: Logan Renwick slid into fifth place for the Irish with a distance of 14.96m. It is his second-best career mark in the event.
Shot Put: Andrew Brock contributed to the scoreboard after he placed seventh with a hurl of 15.74m.
Pole Vault: David Schipper finished sixth with a height of 4.65m.
1,000m: Eddy Gibbons racked up two points for the Irish after finishing seventh with a time of 2:31.90.
800m: Eric Gebeke placed fifth in the finals with a time of 1:52.03.
60mH: Jarrod Buchanon crossed the line at 8.16 for a sixth-place finish for the Irish.
60m: Patrick Feeney stops the clock at 6.85 to finish fourth.
Mile: DJ Thornton earned all-BIG EAST honors after finishing third in 4:09.58.
500m: Chris Giesting gave chase nearly repeating as champion finishing second with a time of 1:00.58. He topped the BIG EAST record last set by Seton Hall’s Greg Gomes back in 2008 with a time of 1:01.02. Brycen Spratling from Pittsburgh captured the new meet record with a time of 1:00.37. Giesting lowers his school record which was previously set last year with a time of 1:01.28.
400m: Patrick Feeney won the event for the third time in a row with a time of 46.12 and Brendan Dougherty placed third (47.07) to capture his all-BIG EAST accolade. Dougherty’s effort sets a new personal best.
200m: Chris Giesting crossed the line at 21.30 to finish third.
3,000m: Michael Clevenger took sixth in the 3,000m run with a time of 8:12.59.
4x800m Relay: Eddy Gibbons, Steve Blazer, Eric Gebeke and Spencer Rheinhardt helped Notre Dame to a fourth-place finish in the event with a time of 7:33.77.
4x400m Relay: The Irish team of Dougherty, Giesting, Buchanon and Feeney finished second and earned all-BIG EAST accolades after finishing in a time of 3:08.28.
WOMEN’S EVENTS
Pentathlon (finals): Carly Loeffel took second in the pentathlon gathering in 3,915 total points in the five events becoming an all-BIG EAST honoree. Meghan Moore finished with 3,579 points placing sixth.
Long Jump (finals): Jessie Christian (sixth-5.71m) and Kalia Barber (eighth-5.76m) each scored for Notre Dame.
Distance Medley (finals): Kelly Curran, Amber Lalla, Rebecca Tracy and Alexa Aragon all contributed to a third place finish for the Irish and receive all-BIG EAST honors with a time of 11:07.32. The time is the seventh best time in the country this season.
Women’s Weight Throw (finals): Vivien Devaney (fifth-18.39m) and Ihuoma Nwaogwugwu (eight-17.79m) crack the top-eight scored spots.
Triple Jump: Mary Esther Gourdin picked up three points for the Irish after finishing sixth with a top jump of 12.18m.
Shot Put: Emily Morris carried a distance of 14.78m in the sand to land in seventh place.
Pole Vault: Ann Polcari placed third and earned all-BIG EAST honors with a vault of 3.85m. Kelly Burke took fifth with a vault of 3.75m.
1,000m: McKinzie Schulz finished seventh with a time of 2:53.28.
800m: Danielle Aragon picked up all-BIG EAST honors with a second-place finish (2:09.74).
60mH: Jade Barber (first-8.24), Sorenson (second-8.33) and Kaila Barber (third-8.48) easily controlled the 60mH to take every all-BIG EAST accolade in the event.
60m: Aijah Urssery got on the board for Notre Dame placing eighth with a time of 7.62.
Mile: Rebecca Tracy won the event with a time of 4:40.72 and Kelly Curran finished third with a time of 4:41.90.
500m: Megan Yanik finished third with a 1:13.34.
400m: Michelle Brown won the 400m (53.30) and marked as the 11th best time in the country to date. The finish is a new personal best in the event.
200m: Jade Barber (24.04) placed second in the event.
3,000m: In a bizarre race, the stagger was misaligned in the start and a restart was administered after three minutes had passed in the race. Alexa Aragon placed eighth with a time of 9:33.60. She achieved a career best. Her most recent top mark was set at last year’s Indiana Relays (9:34.15).
4x800m Relay: Kelly Curran, McKinzie Schulz, Danielle Aragon and Rebecca Tracy each contributed towards a second place finish with a time of 8:40.59. Curran, McKinzie and Schulz collect all-BIG EAST honors for the second straight year.
4x400m Relay: The Irish team of Jade Barber, Brown, Bamgbose and Yanik won the 4x400m relay in a time of 3:36.88.
Men’s Champions
Ted Glasnow – Heptathlon
Patrick Feeney – 400m (Three-Time Champion)
Men’s All-BIG EAST
Ted Glasnow – Heptathlon
Chris Giesting – 500m, 200m, 4x400m Relay
Patrick Feeney – 400m, 4x400m Relay
Brendan Dougherty – 400m, 4x400m Relay
DJ Thornton – Mile
Jarrod Buchanon – 4x400m Relay
Women’s Champions
Jade Barber – 60m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay
Michelle Brown – 400m, 4x400m Relay
Rebecca Tracy – Mile
Margaret Bamgbose – 4x400m Relay
Megan Yanik – 4x400m Relay
Women’s All-BIG EAST
Jade Barber – 60m Hurdles, 200m, 4x400m Relay
Nevada Sorenson – 60m Hurdles
Kaila Barber – 60m Hurdles
Megan Yanik – 500m, 4x400m Relay
Michelle Brown – 400m, 4x400m Relay
Margaret Bamgbose – 400m, 4x400m Relay
Rebecca Tracy – Mile, DMR, 4x800m Relay
Kelly Curran – Mile, DMR, 4x800m Relay
Danielle Aragon – 800m, 4x800m Relay
Amber Lalla – DMR
Alexa Aragon – DMR
McKinzie Schulz – 4x800m Relay
Ann Polcari – Pole Vault
Carly Loeffel – Pentathlon
POST-MEET QUOTES
Head Coach Joe Piane: “I thought the women did a terrific job. Every coach maps out the meet before you get there. I thought we would maybe score 120 or 121 points so we kind of overachieved a little bit. What a great place to do that, at your conference meet. We had a lot of great performances. Michelle Brown did a great job. We had so many student-athletes that achieved one or two valuable points for the team.”
Assistant Coach and Head Women’s Distance Coach Tim Connelly: “It was a great team win. We scored all over the board. It was a total team effort. We had a lot of kids just go out and compete hard all weekend so it was a great day for us.”
Carly Loeffel: “I had a good day. I had personal bests in a lot of events that I did. I wish those 12 points had gone in my direction. I’m really happy with what I did this year going from finishing sixth last year to taking second this year.”
Jade Barber: “I had a blast running beside my two best friends in the 60m hurdles. I think that really helped me. My sister (Kaila Barber) and I actually cried because our grandma was here. It actually motivated me even more and without that I doubt I would have done so well.”
Rebecca Tracy: “It was nice to run in the mile after missing the event last season. We ran a real race. Usually we get to the BIG EAST and putt around for 1,200 meters and kick it in for the finish and this time we went out in a real pace. We ran a more honest race. Two weeks ago at the Meyo we did 70s going out so I knew just to hang there and when it was time to go I could still go. In the 4x800m relay the girls ran great. Dani (Danielle Aragon) gave me the baton in great position. We were going slow. When I heard we were at 67 I didn’t really want to wait till we had 150 to go so I put it on there and Emily Lipari and I bumped a little bit with a hundred to go and I got out-stepped at the line and that’s going to happen sometimes. In outdoors I am going to focus on the 1,500 and hopefully we can put together a good 4x800m relay team.”
–ND–