April 26, 2018
By Matt Paras
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Notre Dame track & field team had a strong start on the first day of the historic Penn Relays. Returning to the track for the first time in 10 months, junior Anna Rohrer highlighted the first day of action for the Irish with her win in the 10000m.
The last time Rohrer was out on the track for the Irish, she was running the 10000m at Hayward Field at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Rohrer was back at it in the 10000m Thursday night at Franklin Field and she picked up where she left off after an extremely successful sophomore year. Rohrer placed first in the 10000m with a time of 33:25.24, which currently ranks third in the ACC and ninth nationally. Fellow junior Annie Heffernan placed third in the event with a personal record of 33:48.25.
Heading into the meet, the Irish were looking for strong finishes from the distance medley relay teams and the women’s squad did just that Thursday afternoon. The team of Kelly Hart, Jordan Shead, Samantha Murray and Jessica Harris were up at the front of the pack for the majority of the race with Villanova and Penn State. Villanova began to pull away but the Irish started to close the gap when Harris got the baton. Her push in the final lap couldn’t quite catch Villanova but the Irish claimed second place with a time of 11:03.71. It was an improvement from last year when the Irish finished third in the event.
Shead ran in the first event of the day for the Irish on the track, the 400m Hurdles Championship. She finished fifth overall against a field of 49 runners with a season-best time of 59.43. This continues the string of strong results for Shead. She set two personal records last week at the Michael Johnson Invitational and won her first event of the spring at the Louisville Invitational.
Shead also ran with Kyla Lewis, Michaela Butler and Summer Thorpe in the women’s 4x100m relay prelims. The relay squad finished 11th overall with a time of 45.75, which means they will run in the college final tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Irish had a trio of athletes that finished well in the women’s shot put. All three finished in the top-10 with graduate student Indi Jackson leading the way. Jackson finished runner-up with a 15.57m (51-0.75), her third top-three finish in the shot put this season. Abbey Kapitan joined Jackson in the top-five, she finished fourth with a 15.30m (50-2.25). Rachel Tanczos rounded out the trio with a ninth-place finish (14.36m, 47-1.25).
Brent Kennedy closed out the first day of races for the Irish in the men’s 10000m. The senior from Allegheny Township, Pa. finished 15th overall with a 30:47.47.
Up Next
The Irish will be back at Franklin Field tomorrow for day two of the Penn Relays. Drake Stimson will start the Irish off in the Men’s 400m Hurdles Championship at 9 a.m. ET. A select number of athletes will be competing in the Gina Relays starting tomorrow in Hillsdale, Mich. First events will also start at 9 a.m. on Friday for the Gina Relays.
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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.