May 16, 2015
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The University of Notre Dame women’s track & field team entered the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Championships with its ambitions set high, but while a recent spate of injuries prevented the Fighting Irish from making a run at the team championship they were aiming for, they turned in several championship-caliber performances in their fourth appearance at an ACC championship event at the Mike Long Track at Florida State.
The 23rd-ranked Fighting Irish women added three ACC Champions to their ranks and saw two school records fall Saturday en route to their fifth-place finish (72 points). Three more athletes and a relay squad took first team All-ACC honors, while two individuals and a relay took second team honors.
Clemson claimed the team championship (113.50 points), followed by Florida State (94.50 points), Miami (93 points) and North Carolina (78.50 points).
The Irish men finished in a tie with Pittsburgh for ninth place (37 points) as the host Seminoles took the team crown (136 points), followed by Virginia (100 points) and Virginia Tech (98 points).
“I’m so proud of the effort of the kids who were here,” said head coach Alan Turner, noting the loss of Danielle Aragon and Kaila Barber to injuries in preliminary races and of Sydni Meunier early in the week. “Our future is bright. I’m disappointed in the overall team finish, and not to make excuses, but the injury bug hit us a bad in couple cases.
“The ladies who did compete competed their tails off. There were a lot of positives for us, but we knew coming in today that we didn’t have enough to make a run at Clemson and Florida State.
“On the men’s side, we had just been decimated, but the men did very well. We scored in a lot of areas I didn’t think we’d score in. … Once we’re back healthy, I think we can be one of the top three teams in the conference.”
The women’s 4×400-meter relay squad capped the championship with a Notre Dame and ACC Championship record performance in winning the event. The Irish group, which included Parker English, Amber Lalla, Jordan Shead and Margaret Bamgbose, held third place through the first three legs before Bamgbose overtook Duke in the anchor leg with a split time of 50.72 seconds for a final time of 3:31.17.
Bamgbose had run three races on the day prior to the evening’s final relay, earning All-ACC honors in each. The junior finished second in the 400 meters — also breaking a Notre Dame record with a time of 51.42 — for first team honors, while nabbing a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters (23.57) and a third-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay (45.05) for second team accolades.
“She’s one of our workhorses and she didn’t really have much time to recover [between races],” Turner said. “There were maybe six or seven other girls who did that. For her to finish with a 50.7 [split] in the anchor leg [of the 4×400 relay was great]. She’s put in the work all year and she’s just one of the girls that’s proof if you put in the work, good things are going to happen.”
“I had three other races today so I knew I was tired, but I knew I would need good position, and we got it,” Bamgbose said of the final baton exchange between her and Shead in the 4×400-meter relay.
Molly Seidel followed up her second-place finish in the 10,000 meters on Friday by snagging her third ACC Championship of the season, winning the 5,000 meters to give her indoor and outdoor crowns in the event in 2015. Her time of 16:07.87 was more than a second better than NC State’s Erika Kemp, who came in runner up.
“To double in the distance, you’re in the two longest events on the track,” Turner said. “Running the 10K takes a toll on your body, so rarely do you see kids win or go one-two in both distances. Molly’s shown she’s hands-down the best distance runner in the ACC. She just didn’t have the last half mile in the 10K. From day one she’s bought in, put in the work with Coach [Matt Sparks] and she’s running with confidence.”
Jade Barber won the second ACC Championship of her career, taking the title in the 100-meter hurdles (13.13). She also added a second team All-ACC nod to her resume as part of the 4×100-meter relay.
Mary Esther Gourdin finished out her career with a second team finish in the triple jump, finishing fourth with a hop of 12.69 meters, just 0.01 meters shy of her own school record mark.
The Irish men added five All-ACC performances to the books, as senior Chris Giesting claimed first and second team honors in the 400 meters and 200 meters, respectively, and Jacob Dumford (1,500 meters), Dominick Padovano (discus) and Nathan Richartz (pole vault) made the second team.
Giesting finished second in the 400 meters (45.812) to make the outdoor All-ACC first team for the first time. His fifth-place finish in the 200 (21.02) was good for second team honors.
“Chris is another one that’s just been a winner and when he gets on the track, he gives a top-notch effort,” Turner said. “In the 400 meters in the ACC and BIG EAST, he’s proven himself time and again in the quarter mile. He and [graduate] Patrick Feeney laid the foundation of our 400 meter group and it’s carried over to our women’s side and they’re the reasons we’re having success in our 400 meter groups. He was a bit tired today, but our goal is the NCAA Championships a month from now. He’s ready to go and I think he can run low 45 [seconds] at the NCAAs.”
Dumford finished sixth in the 1,500 meters (3:48.57), while Padovano placed fifth in the discus (54.50m) and Richartz placed fifth in the pole vault (4.97m).
The Irish will be back in action May 28-30 at the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Florida, looking to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships taking place June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon. To keep up with all things Irish track & field, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter and like Notre Dame Cross Country/Track & Field on Facebook.
ACC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 14-16, 2015
Mike Long Track
Tallahassee, Fla.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
Team Scores (21 of 21 events)
1. Clemson, 113.50 points
2. Florida State, 94.50
3. Miami, 93.0
4. North Carolina 78.50
5. Notre Dame, 72.0
6. Louisville, 61.0
7. NC State, 59.0
8. Duke, 51.0
9. Virginia, 48.50
10. Syracuse, 33.0
11. Virginia Tech, 32.0
12. Wake Forest, 31.0
13. Pittsburgh, 21.0
14. Boston College, 19.0
15. Georgia Tech, 11.0
Individual Results
Saturday
200 meters finals
5. Margaret Bamgbose, 23.57^^
400 meters finals
2. Margaret Bamgbose, 51.42*^
7. Amber Lalla, 53.66
1,500 meters finals
Danielle Aragon, DNS
5,000 meters finals
1. Molly Seidel, 16:07.87 #^
Danielle Aragon, DNS
Sydni Meunier, DNS
100-meter hurdles finals
1. Jade Barber, 13.13 #^
400-meter hurdles finals
Kaila Barber, DNS
4×100-meter relay finals
3. Notre Dame, 45.05^^
Jade Barber, Kaila Barber, Parker English, Margaret Bamgbose
4×400-meter relay finals
1. Notre Dame, 3:31.17 *#+^
Parker English, Amber Lalla, Jordan Shead, Margaret Bamgbose
Pole Vault finals
15. Kayla Polcari, 3.71m
High Jump finals
10. Carly Loeffel, 1.72m
17. Rachel Rhodes, 1.59m
Triple Jump finals
4. Mary Esther Gourdin, 12.69m^^
Discus finals
9. Lena Madison, 44.68m
Friday
100 meters preliminaries
10. Jade Barber, 11.89
11. Parker English, 11.91
21. Emily Carson, 12.19
400 meters preliminaries
4. Margaret Bamgbose, 52.71 Q
7. Amber Lalla, 53.43 Q
15. Jordan Shead, 54.84
22. Payton Miller, 55.76
800 meter preliminaries
14. Samantha Murray, 2:10.34
23. Jamie Marvil, 2:14.19
25. Alexis Daugherty, 2:14.52
Danielle Aragon, DNF
100-meter hurdles preliminaries
1. Jade Barber, 13.14 Q
Kaila Barber, DNS
Shot Put finals
6. Emily Morris, 15.39m^^
Heptathlon (final)
3. Carly Loeffel, 5501 points^
9. Rachel Rhodes, 4836 points
Long Jump – heptathlon
2. Carly Loeffel, 5.66m
10. Rachel Rhodes, 5.32m
Javelin – heptathlon
4. Carly Loeffel, 38.41m
13. Rachel Rhodes, 24.45m
800 meters – heptathlon
1. Rachel Rhodes, 2:15.68
9. Carly Loeffel, 2:24.28
Thursday
200 meters preliminaries
6. Margaret Bamgbose, 23.78 Q
9. Amber Lalla, 23.98
13. Parker English, 24.24
1,500 meters preliminaries
4. Danielle Aragon, 4:22.24 Q
34. Ashlyn Rambo, 4:29.49
10,000 meters finals
2. Molly Seidel, 33:39.70^
400-meter hurdles preliminaries
6. Kaila Barber, 59.22 Q
11. Michelle Rotondo, 1:00.12
Hammer Throw finals
Lena Madison, Foul
Long Jump
9. Emily Carson, 5.91m
100 meters – heptathlon
4. Carly Loeffel, 14.16
10. Rachel Rhodes, 15.12
High jump – heptathlon
7. Carly Loeffel, 1.69m
10. Rachel Rhodes, 1.63m
Shot put – heptathlon
2. Carly Loeffel, 12.44m
14. Rachel Rhodes, 9.50m
200 meters – heptathlon
2. Carly Loeffel, 25.26
5. Rachel Rhodes, 25.53
MEN’S RESULTS
Team Scores (21 of 21 events)
1. Florida State, 136.0 points
2. Virginia, 100.0
3. Virginia Tech, 98.0
4. Clemson, 89.0
5. North Carolina, 53.0
6. Duke, 53.0
7. Syracuse, 51.0
8. Louisville, 40.0
9. Notre Dame, 37.0
9. Pittsburgh, 37.0
11. Miami, 36.0
12. NC State, 33.0
13. Georgia Tech, 22.0
14. Wake Forest, 18.0
15. Boston College, 0
Individual Results
Saturday
200 meters finals
5. Chris Giesting, 21.01^^
400 meters finals
2. Chris Giesting, 45.812^
1,500 meters finals
6. Jacob Dumford, 3:48.57^^
5,000 meters finals
7. Michael Clevenger, 14:18.96
17. Martin Grady, 14:55.71
Jacob Dumford, DNF
Jake Kildoo, DNS
4×400-meter relay
8. Notre Dame, 3:10.07
Chris Giesting, Harvey Smith, Alex Groesch, Patrick O’Connell
Pole Vault finals
5. Nathan Richartz, 4.97m^^
Javelin finals
8. Greg Bombara, 59.03m
Discus finals
5. Dominick Padovano, 54.50m^^
14. Anthony Shivers, 50.44m
Friday
400 meters preliminaries
3. Chris Giesting, 46.06 Q
8. Eric Ways, 46.88
20. Alex Groesch, 48.21
800 meters preliminaries
26. Eric Gebeke, 1:52.53
28. Patrick O’Connell, 1:52.71
High Jump finals
7. Hunter Holton, 2.02m
Decathlon (final)
7. Brent Swanberg, 6,864 points
110-meter hurdles – decathlon
3. Brent Swanberg, 15.38
Discus – decathlon
11. Brent Swanberg, 33.20m
Pole Vault – decathlon
4. Brent Swanberg, 4.37m
Javelin – decathlon
6. Brent Swanberg, 47.47m
1,500 meters – decathlon
3. Brent Swanberg, 4:37.97
Thursday
200 meters preliminaries
6. Chris Giesting, 21.14 Q
1,500 meters preliminaries
10. Jacob Dumford, 3:46.53 Q
11. Chris Marco, 3:46.94
10,000 meters finals
6. Martin Grady, 30:07.20^^
8. Jake Kildoo, 30:12.17
18. Calvin Kraft, 32.05.63
Hammer Throw finals
11. Nicholas Hauser, 58.25m
13. Dominick Padovano, 56.26m
19. Anthony Shivers, 51.32m
Long Jump finals
7. Keith Mesidor, 7.19m
100 meters – decathlon
12. Brent Swanberg, 11.82
Long jump – decathlon
3. Brent Swanberg, 6.80m
Shot put – decathlon
2. Brent Swanberg, 12.86m
High jump – decathlon
7. Brent Swanberg, 1.90m
400 meters – decathlon
11. Brent Swanberg, 51.81
* – Notre Dame record
# – ACC Champion
+ – ACC Championship record
^ – First Team All-ACC
^^ – Second Team All-ACC
Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–