April 21, 2018
Virginia Challenge Photo Gallery 
Virginia Challenge Final Results 
By Matt Paras
The Notre Dame track and field team finished up a strong weekend after competing in the Virginia Challenge and Michael Johnson Invitational. Over a dozen PR’s were set between the two meets and the Irish picked up two wins after both meets concluded Saturday night.
Michael Johnson Invitational
The Irish recorded a number of strong finishes on the track and in the infield on Saturday in Waco.
As he has done all outdoor season for the Irish, Nathan Richartz was once again the top finisher in the pole vault. Richartz cleared 5.51m (18-01.00) on his second attempt to pick up his fifth win and is a perfect five-for-five in meets he has competed in this spring. This is the fourth time this season Richartz has cleared 18 feet.
Senior Jordan Shead continued her good form on Saturday. She started the day in the 200m dash and set a personal record with a 24.02. Later in the evening, Shead was at it again with another personal record, this time in the 400m dash. She placed third with a 53.30. Shead continues to hold one of the top times in the conference in the 400m. Her personal record currently sits fourth-best in the ACC.
Fellow senior Allison Bartoszewicz followed Shead’s lead and also set a personal record in the 400m. She finished sixth with a 54.94. The pair of Bartoszewicz and Shead teamed up with Summer Thorpe and Grace Cronin in the 4x400m relay. They finished fifth with a 3:41.94. Shead also ran in the 4x100m relay with Thorpe, Kyla Lewis and Naya Sharp. That relay team finished runner-up with a time of 46.06.
Prior to the 4x100m relay, Thorpe had an excellent race in the 100m hurdles. She placed second overall with a personal record of 13.40. Her time ranks fifth all-time in school history and currently is seventh-best in the ACC.
Freshman Rachel Tanczos tallied a runner-up finish in the women’s discus with a personal record of 53.84m (176-08). Her throw smashed her old record by over four meters that she set at the Hurricane Invitational.
On the men’s side, Logan Kusky and John Stefan also set personal records in the infield. Stefan set a personal-best mark and earned his first win of the season in the open shot put when his fourth attempt traveled 16.07m (52-08.75). Kusky tossed a 48.27m (158-04) in the open discus to break his previous best mark.
Matthew Birzer tallied his fourth straight top-five finish in the high jump when he cleared 2.08m (6-09.75) and finished third overall. Teammate Hunter Holton was not far behind, finishing sixth after clearing 2.03m (6-08.00).
Virginia Challenge
The Irish distance runners also fared well Saturday in Charlottesville as a number of personal records were set.
In the morning portion, Stephanie Knight, Parker Jones and Erin Sullivan all set personal records in their respective races. Jones got the Irish started Saturday in the 1500m run and he finished third with a 3:53.21. Jones shaved off four seconds from his previous best mark that he set last week.
Knight ran in the 1500m on the women’s side and she also placed third with a personal record. Similar to Jones, Knight took four seconds off her previous best mark when she finished with a 4:34.62. Sullivan finished sixth in the 800m run with a PR of 2:14.70.
Jessica Harris was back on the track for the 1500m invite during the evening portion of races. She picked up another top-five finish when she placed fourth overall with a time of 4:20.64.
In the final event of the meet for the Irish, Annie Heffernan and Rachel DaDamio closed it out with two personal records on the women’s side. Heffernan finished sixth in the 5000m with a 16:11.62 while DaDamio finished ninth with a 16:20.16. Heffernan blew away her previous best time by over 16 seconds with her finish Saturday night. Andrew Alexander also set a personal record in the men’s 5000m in the final event of the meet. He finished with a 14:19.88 and improved his best mark by over 11 seconds.
Up Next
Notre Dame returns to action at the Penn Relays and the Gina Relays next weekend. The Penn Relays will run from April 26-28 at Ben Franklin Field (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). The Gina Relays will take place from April 27-28 at Ken Herrick Track (Hillsdale, Michigan).
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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.