Irish Set For NCAA Championships

2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships
Date: June 5-8
Time: 6:30 p.m. | 7 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 5:30 p.m. CT
Venue: Mike A. Myers Stadium
Location: Austin, Texas | University of Texas
Results: https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/NCAA/index.htm
Live Stream: ESPN Channels

At A Glance

• Seven Irish individuals will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week in six women and one man.
• Sophomore Yared Nuguse will kick things off for Notre Dame at the championship meet, competing in the men’s 1,500m semifinals at 6:46 p.m. CT (heat 2/lane 9)
• Thursday looks to be the busiest night for the Irish as five women are set to compete.
• Jess Harris will race first in the women’s 1,500m semifinals at 7:16 p.m. CT (heat 2/lane 4), before Summer Thorpe gets set in the women’s 100m hurdle semifinals at 8:02 p.m. CT (heat 2/lane 9).
• The nation’s top 10K squad in Anna Rohrer, Jackie Gaughan and Maddy Denner take to the track at 9:38 p.m. CT for the women’s 10K championships.
• Friday consists of the men’s track events beginning at 7:30 p.m. If Nuguse were to advance past the semifinal round, he would compete at 7:41 p.m. CT.
• Saturday’s finals hold the potential for three Irish competitors. The women’s 1,500m run is set for 5:41 p.m. CT, followed by the women’s 100m hurdles at 6:12 p.m.
• Rachel DaDamio, who qualified for the Championships with her 12th place finish in the East Region 5K, will race at 7:25 p.m. CT on the final day of competition.

Breakdown of Events

• Wednesday
  • Men’s 1,500m Run Semifinals
    • Yared Nuguse
    • 4:16 p.m.
    • ESPN2
• Thursday
  • Women’s 1,500 Run Semifinals
    • Jess Harris
    • 7:16 p.m.
    • ESPNU
  • Women’s 100m Hurdles Semifinals
    • Summer Thorpe
    • 8:02 p.m.
    • ESPN2
  • Women’s 10K Run  Finals
    • Anna Rohrer, Jackie Gaughan, Maddy Denner
    • 9:38 p.m.
    • ESPN2
• Friday
  • Men’s 1,500m Run Finals*
    • Yared Nuguse
    • 7:41 p.m.
    • ESPN
• Saturday
  • Women’s 1,500 Run Finals*
    • Jess Harris
    • 5:41 p.m.
    • ESPN2
  • Women’s 100m Hurdles Finals*
    • Summer Thorpe
    • 6:12 p.m.
    • ESPN2
  • Women’s 5K Run Finals
    • Rachel DaDamio
    • 7:25 p.m.
    • ESPN2

* if applicable
All Times CT

By The Numbers

• 29 — Between the two teams, 29 freshmen joined the ranks of the Fighting Irish for the 2018-19 season, including 11 women and 18 men.
• 21 — The Irish qualified 21 individuals for the East Regional championship meet for a total of 25 entries. Eleven women will represent the Irish along with 10 men as the team will compete in all three specialties on the track and in the field (sprints, distance, throws).
• 7 — Seven Irish runners have qualified for the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, besting last season’s total by one.
• 6 — Six members of the Irish team qualified for nationals in the 2018 outdoor season, including four who return for the 2018-19 season.
• 6 — Six current Irish team members hold Notre Dame school records on the track and in the field (outdoors), combining for nine total records. Jess Harris (800m, 1500m, 3K, DMR), Anna Rohrer (10K), Kelly Hart (DMR), Gabe Diederich (Javelin) and Rachel Tanczos (Hammer Throw, Discus) and Logan Kusky (Hammer Throw).
• 4 — The Notre Dame Track & Field team welcomed four new faces to the coaching staff in 2018-19 including three assistants (Kendra Foley – W. Distance, Wayne Pate – Sprints, Rodney Zuyderwyk – Jumps) and a volunteer assistant coach (Cole Hester – M. Distance).
• 4 — Four records have already fallen for the Irish this outdoor season. Gabrielle Diederich set the Notre Dame program record in the javelin at the Victor Lopez Invitational (47.21m) before Rachel Tanczos set the school hammer throw record and Jess Harris broke the previous 3K record for the Irish at the Louisville Invitational. Tanczos broke her own hammer throw record with a 64.28m mark at the Virginia Challenge on her way to second overall. Tanczos broke another record at the Jesse Owens Classic, this time in discus, with a throw of 52.71m and third overall. Logan Kusky broke the most recent Irish record, setting a new hammer throw mark of 66.30m as he finished with a bronze medal at the 2019 ACC Outdoor Championships. Diederich also broke her own javelin record at the championship meet, throwing for 47.39m and earning her spot in the NCAA East Regional meet.
• 3 — Three individuals are making their Outdoor Championships debut in Summer Thorpe, Jackie Gaughan and Maddy Denner. Thorpe, a junior out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, snagged the final qualifying spot at the East Region Prelims with a 13.30 finish in the finals for 12th overall. The freshman pair of Gaughan and Denner account for two-thirds of the best 10K team in the nation as they finished 2nd and 10th, respectively, at the regional meet to punch their ticket to the finals.
• 3 — Yared Nuguse finished third at the Bryan Clay invitational with a personal best 1,500m race time of 3:38.32. His finish came just 0.03 seconds shy of the school record and is the third fastest recorded finish in the nation this season.
• 1 — After her 4:13.04 finish in the 1,500m run at the Virginia Challenge, Jess Harris posted the fastest women’s 1500m time in the country this season. At the end of the regular season she ranked second overall after Jessica Hull of Oregon set the top time on May 2.
• 1 — This is Matt Sparks’ first season at the helm of the Fighting Irish, having previously served four years as an assistant and associate head coach for the team.

What They’re Saying

“We have a good group of veteran leaders competing with several newcomers. Anna Rohrer, Jessica Harris and Rachel Dadamio have done a great job mentoring our first-time qualifiers.

“We have had a productive 10 days of preparation for this weekend.  Everyone making the trip is as fit and ready as they have been all season.” — Hatherly-Piane Head Coach Matt Sparks.

Last Time Out

• In just her second meet of the season, Anna Rohrer posted her second 10K win, taking the top spot at the East Region Prelims. Between the ACC Championships and the NCAA preliminary round, Rohrer shaved 22.83 seconds off her season-best 10K time.
• The nation’s top freshman in the women’s 10K, Jackie Gaughan took second in the event, crossing the finish just behind Rohrer in 33:09.76.
• Fellow freshman, Maddy Denner notched her spot in the finals with a 10th place finish in Jacksonville, Florida.
• Yared Nuguse and Jess Harris won their respective 1,500m runs after entering the meet with the top-ranked time in the region. Harris holds the second-best time in the nation while Nuguse sits third in the nation following his personal best run at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
• Summer Thorpe and Rachel DaDamio both qualified for the championship meet after clinching the final spot in their races. Following her 13th place finish through the 100m hurdle first round, Thorpe fought for a spot in the top-12 during the quarterfinals. She took 12th overall at the East Region Prelims in 13.30 to secure the spot. NCAA Championships veteran, DaDamio earned a 12th place 5K finish in 16:25.42.
• Two Irish individuals earned ACC crowns at the 2019 Outdoor Championships earlier this month. Anna Rohrer won her second 10K title in three years as she made her outdoor season debut while Yared Nuguse took the top spot in the men’s 1,500m race.
• Notre Dame saw two records fall at the ACC Championships as Gabrielle Diederich broke her own javelin record (47.39m) before Logan Kusky set the men’s hammer throw mark in 66.30m.
• Rachel Tanczos continued her record breaking run at the Jesse Owens Invitational, posting a discus mark of 52.71m for the top throw in Notre Dame program history.
• Jess Harris set the then-nation-leading 1,500m time in the women’s race at the Virginia Challenge. Her time of 4:13.04 was a season best for the senior and led her to a first place finish in the event.
• Yared Nuguse finished third of 162 participants in the 1,500m run at the Bryan Clay Invitational, recording the third best time in the nation in 2019. His finish of 3:38.32 came just 0.03 seconds shy of the Notre Dame record and was a personal best for Nuguse.
• Rachel Tanczos broke her own school record in the hammer throw with a 64.28m throw on her fifth attempt before finishing second overall. She now boasts the 18th best mark in the country this year.
• Two school records fell at the Louisville Invitational as Rachel Tanczos and Jess Harris added their names to the records book. Tanczos opened the meet with a 61.96m hammer throw outing, putting her 30th in the nation as of April 15. On the second day, Harris destroyed a 20-year-old record in the 3K, posting a 9:09.71 finish to break JoAnna Deeter’s record of 9:18.31 set in 1999.
• Gabrielle Diederich etched her name in the Notre Dame records book with her 47.21m throw in the javelin at the Victor Lopez Classic to kick off the outdoor season.
• Last season, the Irish sent six representatives to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, four of which return for the 2019 season.
• Rachel DaDamio, Jessica Harris, Annie Heffernan and Anna Rohrer are all veterans of the championship meet, having competed last year to bring the women a tie for 46th place at the national meet.
• At their most recent indoor meet, the Irish ran away with their fourth National Title in men’s program history when the DMR crossed the line first at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 9:31.55.
• Many indoor records fell in 2018-19, three of which stood at the end of the season. Logan Kusky broke numerous men’s weight throw records while Abbey Kapitan and Rachel Tanczos went back and forth with records in the women’s weight throw.
• The men’s DMR set the fastest time in program and Meyo Track history with a 9:26.10 finish at the Alex Wilson Invitational and posted the second-best time ever recorded in the NCAA.
• At the ACC Indoor Championships, Notre Dame recorded four conference titles in the Men’s DMR, Men’s Weight Throw, Women’s Weight Throw and Men’s Mile.