Feb. 4, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Meyo Invitational has long been part of the discussion as one of the nation’s premier indoor track & field meets, and after the 19th edition of the Meyo Invitational came to a close Saturday night at Notre Dame’s Loftus Sports Center, it’s evident the meet’s reputation is a well-deserved one. When the cinders had settled, participating athletes combined to set 76 provisional or automatic qualifying marks for next month’s NCAA Championships, while seven meet records, three Meyo Track records and three Notre Dame school records fell by the wayside.
One of the highlights of this year’s Meyo Invitational was the men’s 3,000-meter race, which featured arguably the nation’s most powerful field to this point in the indoor season. Notre Dame junior All-American Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ontario/Walkerton D.S.S.) waged a thrilling duel with Michigan’s Mike Woods, with the Wolverine sophomore passing the Irish veteran entering the final lap, then holding off a furious charge at the line to win in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 7:52.27. Benninger finished a mere one-hundredth (.01) of a second off the pace, setting a new school record and an NCAA automatic qualification time as well as a personal best. Benninger’s mark was nearly two seconds better than the previous Irish record of 7:54.02, set by Luke Watson in 2003, and he has now automatically qualified in two events for the NCAA Championships after his 3:58.77 mile at the Jan. 27 Notre Dame Invitational.
In the meet’s marquee event, the Meyo Mile, Pittsburgh standout Sam Bair, Jr. pulled away to win in 4:01.22, just missing in his bid to join his father as the first American father-son duo ever to run a sub-four-minute mile. Bair led a group of five runners who all posted NCAA provisional qualifying times, with two others — South Alabama’s Harry Larubi and Notre Dame sophomore Jake Watson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area HS) — finishing less than one-tenth (.1) of a second short of NCAA consideration. Watson’s mark of 4:04.96 was a personal best and did put him in the field for the BIG EAST Conference Championships, slated for Feb. 18-19 in Akron, Ohio.
On the women’s side, Irish junior Maryann Erigha (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee HS) sparkled in the sprints, meeting the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. In the 60 meters, Erigha outleaned Georgia Tech’s Andriane Lapsley to win in a school-record time of 7.42 seconds, snapping Ayesha Boyd’s 2002 mark of 7.44 seconds. Erigha then finished second in the 200 meters (23.74 seconds) behind another Georgia Tech sprinter, Ashlee Kidd, although it took a meet and track record time of 23.51 seconds by Kidd to do it.
Notre Dame returns to competition next Saturday, Feb. 11, for its final meet before the BIG EAST Championships when it travels to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, for the Windsor Team Challenge.
— ND —
SATURDAY MEET RECAP
Men’s Triple Jump: Wisconsin’s Alonzo Moore won with a leap of 51-7.75 (15.74m), which would be an NCAA provisional qualifier had Moore not already posted an automatic qualifying mark of 53-2.5 (16.22m) earlier this season … no Notre Dame athletes competed in this event.
Women’s Shot Put: Minnesota’s Liz Alabi took top honors with a heave of 49-10.75 (15.21m) …senior Meghan Horn placed 11th with a best toss of 43-6.5 (13.27m) to lead the Irish.
Men’s Shot Put: Missouri throwers went 1-2 in the event, as Nate Englin edged teammate Bill Hobson with a mark of 57-7.25 (17.56m) … sophomore Mike Schubert was the top Notre Dame finisher in 12th place (50-2.75, 15.31m).
Women’s Pole Vault: Sue Kane, competing unattached, won the event with a meet-record clearance of 13-3.75 (4.06m) … Irish freshman Mary Saxer was the top collegiate competitor for the fifth consecutive meet, placing second at 12-11.5 (3.95m).
Men’s High Jump: Adam Linkenauger of Clemson won a tense battle with a top height of 7-3 (2.21m), which also provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships … Notre Dame freshman Blair Majcina placed 13th (6-5.5, 1.97m) to lead the Irish.
Women’s Triple Jump: Georgia Tech’s Brandy Depland turned in one of the top performances of this year’s Meyo Invitational, setting new meet and track records with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 44-2 (13.46m) … Irish junior Cassie Gullickson was her school’s top finisher, coming in 10th place after matching her season-best distance of 38-8.25 (11.79m).
Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles: Amber Williams of Ball State tied the Meyo Invitational record and NCAA provisional qualifying time with a winning mark of 8.26 seconds … no Notre Dame athlete qualified for the finals in this event.
Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles: Former Notre Dame All-America Selim Nurudeen, running unattached this weekend, claimed the crown with a time of 7.82 seconds … Michigan’s Jeff Porter was the top collegian in second place with an NCAA provisional qualifying standard of 7.88 seconds … no Irish sprinter advanced to the finals of this event.
Women’s 60-Meter Dash: Junior Maryann Erigha set a new Notre Dame record time of 7.42 seconds to edge Georgia Tech’s Andriane Lapsley (7.43 seconds) … Erigha also was credited with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, as well as a personal best … sophomore Brienne Davis ended up ninth and lowered her season-best time to 7.67 seconds.
Men’s 60-Meter Dash: Wisconsin’s Demi Omole won a tight final with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 6.62 seconds … Central Michigan’s Pierre Vinson (6.68 seconds, third) and Alabama’s Chauncey Harris (6.72 seconds, fourth) had NCAA provisional qualifiers … no Notre Dame athlete reached the finals in this race.
Women’s Mile: University of Toronto’s Megan Brown won in a time of 4:38.51, with Michigan’s Nicole Edwards placing second (4:41.21) and Irish freshman Ramsey Kavan coming in third (4.45.27) … both Edwards and Kavan clocked NCAA provisional qualifying times … junior Katie DeRusso also lowered her season-best time in the event to 5:04.53 (19th).
Meyo Mile: Sam Bair, Jr., of Pittsburgh outkicked South Alabama’s Vincent Rono down the stretch to win in 4:01.22 (Rono came in at 4:02.69) … the top five runners in the event all registered NCAA provisional qualifying times, while two others — USA’s Harry Larubi and Notre Dame sophomore Jake Watson — came less than one-tenth (.1) of a second from the NCAA standard … Watson (4:04.96, seventh) and junior Todd Ptacek (4:05.36, ninth) both set new personal bests in the event.
Women’s 400-Meter Dash: South Alabama’s Ajoke Odumosu won the race in a time of 54.00 seconds, earning NCAA provisional qualifying consideration … junior Okechi Ogbuokiri was the top Irish finisher, coming in 10th (56.31).
Men’s 400-Meter Dash: Jamel Ashley, running for the Reebok club team, set a new meet record with a winning time of 46.08 seconds … Alabama’s Lachristopher Lewis was second (46.72) and Central Michigan’s Steve Wezner (46.97) finished second and third, respectively, and both qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships … senior Ryan Postel had the top time for the Irish, ending up tied for fifth with a season-best mark of 47.56 seconds.
Women’s 800-Meter Run: One of the top races of this year’s Meyo Invitational with the top three finishers automatically qualifying for the NCAAs and the next four qualifying on a provisional basis … Michigan’s Katie Erdman won the race and set new meet and Meyo Track records in the process with a time of 2:04.21 … Notre Dame sophomore Jacqueline Carter led her team and set a new personal-best time of 2:11.75 (19th).
Men’s 800-Meter Run: Alabama’s Peter Etoot had just enough left in the tank to hold off a record-setting charge by Irish junior Thomas Chamney … Etoot (1:47.87), Chamney (1:48.62) and Missouri’s Marcus Mayes (1:49.48) all posted NCAA provisional qualifying times, with Chamney also setting a new personal best.
Women’s 200-Meter Dash: Ashlee Kidd of Georgia Tech broke the meet and track records with a winning time of 23.51 seconds … Notre Dame junior Maryann Erigha also qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships with a runner-up time of 23.74 seconds, with third-place Andriane Lapsley of Georgia Tech joining Kidd and Erigha in the NCAA pool (23.90).
Men’s 200-Meter Dash: Alabama’s Chauncey Harris earned the crown with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 21.06 seconds … former Irish All-American Selim Nurudeen came in fourth (21.57 seconds) … no current Notre Dame sprinter competed in this event.
Women’s 3,000 Meters: Northern Arizona standout Johanna Nilsson qualified for the NCAA Championships in her third event, but first in automatic fashion, winning easily in a time of 9:11.11 … the next five collegians in the field qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet, including Irish senior All-American Stephanie Madia (9:27.47, fourth) … junior Amy Kohlmeier shattered her personal best in the event, coming home 12th in 9:44.22, more than five seconds under her old mark.
Men’s 3,000 Meters: Michigan’s Mike Woods outleaned Notre Dame junior All-America Kurt Benninger at the line to win the meet’s most exciting race in a time of 7:52.27 … Benninger’s runner-up mark of 7:52.28 was a school record and personal best, and both Woods and Benninger automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships (Benninger’s second automatic qualifier after his mile run last week) … seniors Vinny Ambrico (8:18.32, 21st) and A.J. Andrassy (8:22.22, 24th) added their names to the list of Notre Dame’s BIG EAST Championship qualifiers.
Women’s 4×400-Meter Relay: Western Michigan won in a time of 3:39.32, slipping by Illinois (3:39.76), although both teams did provisionally qualify for the NCAA meet … Notre Dame did not field a squad for this event.
Men’s 4×400-Meter Relay: Northern Iowa successfully defended its Meyo Invitational title in this event in a time of 3:08.23 to shade Alabama (3:08.24) — both had NCAA provisional qualifying times … Notre Dame placed eighth in the event with a time of 3:14.65.