May 9, 2018
By Matt Paras
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – After a weekend off, the Notre Dame track & field team is primed for the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships this weekend in Coral Gables. The three-day meet will begin Thursday afternoon and the Irish look to keep the momentum going from a strong Penn Relays performance.
WHAT: ACC Outdoor Championships
WHEN: May 10-12, 2018
WHERE: Cobb Stadium (Coral Gables, Fla.)
THURSDAY BROADCAST (6pm-9pm): ACC Network Extra
FRIDAY BROADCAST (5:30pm-9:30pm): ACC Network Extra
SATURDAY BROADCAST(5pm-9pm): ACC Network Extra
LIVE RESULTS: Flash Results
The Irish are returning to Coral Gables for the second time as they opened the outdoor season at the Hurricane Invitational on March 16-17.
Graduate student Nathan Richartz started his season with a bang by setting the school and Cobb Stadium facility record when he cleared 5.60m (18-04.50) to win the pole vault event. He has won all six pole vault events this spring and is the defending ACC champion in the event. Richartz’s vault from the Hurricane Invitational is the top mark in the ACC and ranks fifth nationally heading into the weekend.
Another Irish athlete that looks to defend a title this weekend in junior distance runner Anna Rohrer. She returned to the track two weeks ago at Penn Relays and didn’t skip a beat. She won the 10000m with a time of 33:35.24, the fastest in the last 15 years in the event. Her win earned her College Women’s Athlete of the Meet for Individual Events honors.
Rohrer is looking to defend her title in the 10000m, which she won last season with a time of 33:22.05. It was her third of four ACC titles that she won last year through cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons. Heading into this weekend, her time from the Penn Relays ranks third in the ACC and 10th nationally.
Senior Jessica Harris looks to pick up All-ACC honors for the third straight outdoor championships. She enters the weekend with the seventh best time in the 1500m run after finishing fourth (4:20.64) at the Virginia Challenge. Last year at the championships, Harris finished fourth in the 1500m to earn second team All-ACC honors.
Jacob Dumford is coming off a very successful Penn Relays. After finishing second in the distance medley relay, Dumford finished fifth overall and was the top collegiate finisher in the Olympic Development Mile (4:00.00) in a field of mainly professional runners. He heads into the weekend with the third best time in the ACC in the 1500m. He ran a personal record 3:42.04 at the Stanford Invitational.
Graduate student Indi Jackson opened the season with a win in the shot put (15.55m, 51-0.25) at the Hurricane Invitational. She heads into the championships with the fourth best mark in the ACC in the shot put (15.72m, 51-7.00). Last year at Georgia Tech, Jackson finished sixth in the shot put to earn second team All-ACC honors.
Thursday’s action for the Irish will kick off at 12 p.m. ET with Rachel Rhodes in the heptathlon. Infield events start at 3 p.m. with the trio of Shae Watkins, Logan Kusky and Daniel Hardiman in the men’s hammer. Track events and the ACC Network Extra broadcast begin at 6 p.m. with Grace Cronin and Madysen Hunter in the 400m hurdles prelims. Fans can stay up to date with all the action from the ACC Championship Central page here.
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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.