May 11, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Notre Dame completed a strong weekend at the Virginia Challenge at the University of Virginia’s Lannigan Field yesterday. The Irish had 14 competitors finish in the top five of their respective events.
Senior Michelle Brown had an especially impressive showing, with first place finishes in both the women’s 200m and 400m. She finished the 200 in 23.78 and the 400 in 52.94 seconds. Also in the 400, junior Amber Lalla finished ninth with a season-best time of 55.00.
In the women’s 800m run, sophomore Danielle Aragon finished third with a time of 2:08.19, also her best time of the season. She also finished fourth in the women’s 1,500m, coming in at 4:20.08. Her sister, senior Alexa Aragon, finished fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase (10:06.13), which is the sixth fastest time in the event in the country so far this season. In the 400m hurdles, senior Megan Yanik secured a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:01.26.
The women also finished in first place in the 4x400m relay in 3:35.13, almost a full second before the second-place finisher, Duke. The team of Yanik, Brown, Lalla and sophomore Margaret Bamgbose currently have the 11th fastest time in the country this season.
On the men’s side, junior Chris Giesting (45.53) and senior Patrick Feeney (45.65) finished second and third respectively in the men’s 400m dash. Junior Jake Kildoo placed 10th in the men’s 5,000m run in 14:18.28, getting him in the top 100 times in the country. Senior Logan Renwick jumped 15.39 in the triple jump for a third place finish and a new lifetime best and notched a qualifying mark for the NCAA regionals.
Closer to home, seven athletes traveled to compete at the Grand Valley State Last Chance meet yesterday as well. Freshman Harvey Smith finished in first place in the men’s 200m with a time of 21.55 and then finished in first place again in the 400m in 48.19.
Junior Keith Mesidor finished in first place in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.28m. In the men’s discus, junior Dominick Padovano had a throw of 55.17m to win third place, and freshman Anthony Shivers secured fourth place (52.46m).
Junior Kaila Barber finished in first place in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 58.69. Junior Emily Morris also had a first place finish in the women’s shot put with a throw of 15.60m, over a meter further than the second place finisher. Senior Vivien Devaney secured a first place finish of her own in the women’s hammer with a throw of 58.15m (nearly six meters beyond the second place finish). Finally, senior Amanda Chamblee placed first in the women’s javelin with a throw of 45.25m.
The Irish will get back in action next Friday with the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
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