WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — The Notre Dame track & field team opened the second semester with a trip to Purdue for the annual Gene Edmonds Open where they met Alabama State, IUPUI, Louisville, Northern Illinois, Purdue and Western Kentucky Saturday, January 12. The Irish ran away with 19 top-five finishes, including three men who took first overall.
In the field, Logan Kusky opened the day with a first-place finish in the weight throw when he threw for 19.25 meters, well ahead of his closest competitor. Across the way, freshman Colton Crum tallied another 10 points for the men’s team as he cleared the 4.95 meter mark in the pole vault. The final top-finish for the Irish came when Vincent Zona raced to a 1:53.63 in the 800 meter run.
In the women’s throws, Abbey Kapitan and Rachel Tanczos continued their strong start to the season claiming second and third place finishes in the shot put and second (Tanczos) and fifth (Kapitan) in weight throw.
Advancing to the finals after their fast start in the 60 meter hurdle prelims, Jernaya Sharp and Grace Cronin finished fourth and fifth overall, crossing the line in 8.77 and 8.82, respectively, just 0.05 seconds apart.
Making their debut for the Blue and Gold, Jocelyn Long and Maddy Denner finished in the top-five in their first race. Long took second in the women’s mile, finishing in 4:57.87 while fellow freshman, Denner, crossed the line in 5:58.69, battling it out at the finish as 0.01 separated third from fourth place.
On the men’s side, Edward Cheatham crossed the line of the 400 meter dash in second as he finished in 49.51 seconds. Following up Cheatham’s success, the Irish claimed two of the top-finishes in the 600 meter run as Parker Jones and Clayton Goldman took third and fourth, respectively.
The men also placed two in the top-five in the mile race. Brian Griffith finished fourth in the event, clocking in at 4:14.30 as his teammate, Zach Kreft, came in right behind him, finishing the race in 4:14.32.
Up Next
Notre Dame returns to Loftus Fieldhouse next Saturday, January 19, as they host the Notre Dame Invitational. Field events are set to start at 10 a.m. with the running portion of the day getting underway at noon.
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