Jan. 25, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their strong 2013-14 season at the Loftus Sports Center on Saturday. The Irish teams were joined by Southern Illinois, Illinois State and Michigan State. The women finished in first place with 179 points while the men came in second, just eight points behind Michigan State with 171 points. Notre Dame had athletes place first in 14 of 32 total events.
Going into the weekend, head coach Joe Piane said his goals for the two teams included getting athletes qualified for the ACC Championships and doing well against the opposing teams. Both were accomplished today.
Graduate student Jeremy Rae not only won the 1000 M race for the Notre Dame, but his time of 2:22.07 set a new school record in the event. The previous record belonged to Phil Mishika, who had a time of 2:22.22 in 2000.
“He did a great job. That was wonderful, but did you see Jacob Dumford right behind him? As a freshman, that’s pretty good,” Piane says. “Patrick O’Connell won the 800, Feeney did a fantastic job in the 400 and anchored the mile relay run to a win. Those guys did great.
“And you can’t argue with some of our ladies, too. We had really good performances out of Jade Barber and Kaila Barner, and the relay teams did well. Margaret Bamgbose did well, and Carly Loeffel had a good day. She was third in the high jump, and frankly, we needed those points to win. It was a good day.”
Notre Dame’s season continues next Friday, as the Irish travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Relays.
WOMEN’S EVENTS
60 M Hurdles: The Irish took three of the top four spots in this event. Sisters Jade and Kaila Barber placed first and second, respectively, with times of 8.24 and 8.45. Carly Loeffel came in fourth at 8.95 seconds.
60 M Dash: Notre Dame runners took both first and second in this event. Aijah Ussery placed first with a time of 7.56 and Jade Barber was right behind her at 7.64.
200 M Dash: Kaila Barber finished in second with a time of 24.81, behind only TeJuanna Williams (24.65) of Michigan State.
400 M Dash: Margaret Bamgbose finished in first place for Notre Dame with a time of 54.08. Michelle Brown was behind her at second place with a time of 54.31.
500 M Dash: Megan Yanik claimed the top stop for the Irish with a time of 1:14.38. Michelle Rotondo also came in third at 1:19.45.
800 M: Notre Dame claimed second place in this event. Danielle Aragon finished with a time of 2:12.39 to take home the silver.
1000 M: Taylor Driscoll claimed the silver for Notre Dame with a time of 2:55.64. She was less than half a second behind Mobola Rotibi of Southern Illinois, who placed first.
Mile: Alexa Aragon won this event for the Irish with a time of 4:46.88. Sydni Meunier also placed fifth at 4:56.24.
3000 M: Molly Seidel came in fourth in this event in 9:41.36. She was behind three Michigan State runners, who swept the top spots.
4X400 Relay: The Notre Dame A Team of Jade Barber, Michelle Brown, Megan Yanik, and Margaret Bamgbose finished in first place with a time of 3:40.76. The B Team of Kaila Barber, Amber Lalla, Michelle Rotondo and Madlen Karnatz came in fourth place with a time of 3:54.16.
Weight Throw: Vivien Devaney placed fifth in this event for Notre Dame with a distance of 17.98m. Ihuoma Nwaogwugwu came in eighth at 17.08m and Lena Madison came in 11th with a distance of 15.47m. DeAnna Price of Southern Illinois claimed first in the event with a distance of 20.55m.
Long Jump: Jessie Christian placed third for the Irish with a distance of 5.79m. Carly Loeffel also placed fifth at 5.49m. Michigan State’s Ashley Stacey took first with a distance of 6.08m.
Pole Vault: Libby Schichtel and Allie Sullivan tied for seventh in this event with Kassie Powell of Michigan State. All three logged 3.40m.
Shot Put: Emily Morris placed second with a 15.45m throw. Lena Madison also claimed fifth place with a distance of 13.30m.
Triple Jump: Jes Christian finished in fourth for Notre Dame in this event with a leap of 11.54m. Tori Franklin of Michigan State won the triple jump with a distance of 13.10m.
High Jump: Carly Loeffel brought home the bronze for Notre Dame with the jump of 1.70m. Kenya Culmer (1.74m) won the event for Southern Illinois.
MEN’S EVENTS
60 M Hurdles: Jarrod Buchanon won this tight race for Notre Dame with a time of 8.04. Ted Glasnow also placed fifth for the Irish at 8.58 seconds.
60 M Dash: Irish athletes placed second and third in this event, behind Matt Benes of Southern Illinois. Josh Atkinson finished in second at 6.96 and Keith Mesidor had a time of 7.03 in third.
200 M Dash: Josh Atkinson placed second for the Irish in 21.99 seconds, followed by Alex Groesch with a time of 22.38 in third. Both were led only by Austin Sanders of Michigan State, who finished at 21.94.
400 M Dash: Patrick Feeney brought home the gold for the Irish in 46.38 seconds. Harvey Smith (48.59) and John Rutowski (48.70) also came in third and fourth for Notre Dame.
500 M Dash: Notre Dame swept the top three spots in this event. Chris Giesting finished first with a time of 1:04.52. Jarrod Buchanon (1:04.96) and Spencer Rheinhardt (1:05.50) finished behind him at second and third, respectively.
800 M: Patrick O’Connell finished in first place with a time of 1:52.09. Jack Favorite (1:53.52), Andrew Stone (1:53.68) and Steve Blazer (1:54.04) also finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place for Notre Dame in this event.
1000 M: Not only did Jeremy Rae win this event with a time of 2:22.07, but he set a new school record with the time. Jacob Dumford claimed second place at 2:24.17, J.P. Malette came in third at 2:25.47 and Eric Gebeke took fifth with a time of 2:26.78. The Irish took four of the top five spots in this event.
Mile: Nick Happe came in second with a time of 4:06.92, behind the first-place finisher Caleb Rhynard of Michigan State. DJ Thorton also placed fifth in the event with a time of 4:09.63.
3000 M: J.P. Malette claimed the gold for the Irish in this event with a time of 8:24.32. Walter Schafer also placed fourth just a few seconds later at 8:31.74.
4×400 Relay: Notre Dame’s A Team of Alex Groesch, Chris Giesting, Harvey Smith and Patrick Feeney won the race with a time of 3:10.36. The B Team of Conner Stapleton, John Rutkowski, Jarrod Buchanon and Oye Eyeguokan finished in third at 3:18.60.
Weight Throw: Jordan Stumph placed sixth in this event with a throw of 18.03m. Antonio James of Michigan State finished in first with a throw of 22.74m.
Long Jump: Logan Renwick of Notre Dame came in fourth of 17 competitors with a distance of 6.86m. Ted Glasnow also claimed eighth place at 6.75m. The event went to Kurt Schneider of Michigan State, whose jump measured 7.22m.
High Jump: Logan Renwick tied for fifth with Demarcus Leak of Michigan State with a jump of 1.90m. Kyle Landon of Southern Illinois won the event with a distance of 2.17m.
Triple Jump: Logan Renwick claimed bronze for the Irish in this event with a leap of 14.00m. Jarred Gambrell of Michigan State won the event with 14.38m.
Pole Vault: Nate Richartz came in sixth for the Irish at 4.50m. Tim Ehrhardt (4.95m) won the event for Michigan State.
Shot Put: Andrew Brock finished in 10th place for Notre Dame with a throw of 14.91m. Curtis Jensen of Illinois State won with a 19.79m throw.
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
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