May 11, 2018
By Matt Paras
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Notre Dame track and field team was back at it Friday in Coral Gables for the second day of the ACC Championships. Nathan Richartz stole the show for the Irish as he defended his title in the pole vault while breaking a number of records in the process. After two days, the men’s team is in sixth with 24.5 points and the women’s team is seventh with 19 points.
“I knew coming in that it would be a great competition, the duo from Virginia Tech are great athletes,” said Richartz. “I came in expecting a battle and the competition helped propel me to higher heights.”
“It was an awesome performance tonight from Nate,” said assistant coach Jim Garnham. “Once he cleared 5.60m, he knew that he had to clear 5.70m to win and he did it on the first attempt. Overall it has been a great year for him and look to keep it going over the next few meets.”
Heading into the meet, Richartz held the conference’s best mark (5.60m, 18-4.50) from the Hurricane Invitational where he broke the school and facility record. He faced off with a duo of Hokies when the bar shifted up to 5.60m. On his final attempt, Richartz cleared the height and the bar moved up to 5.70m. Richartz didn’t waste any time at the new height, clearing it on the first attempt. He was the only athlete to clear the height, giving Richartz his second-consecutive ACC outdoor pole vault title. Richartz’s winning height broke his school record and also broke the meet record and tied the ACC record. Richartz continues his undefeated spring, as he has won all seven pole vault events this season.
Jordan Shead and Allison Bartoszewicz had a tough challenge in the second heat of the 400m dash prelims, going up against the reigning indoor 400m champion in Desiree Garland of Pittsburgh. Shead gave Garland all she could handle in the race, as the two were out in front heading down the final straightaway. Shead finished second, just behind Garland with a time of 53.94. After all four prelims, Shead finished eighth and qualified for Saturday’s final.
After just missing out on the 200m dash finals yesterday, sophomore Troy Pride Jr. made sure he wasn’t going to do the same in the 100m dash. Pride Jr. had a strong race in the third heat as he and Valentine of Miami jumped in front out of the blocks. Pride Jr. finished second with a season-best time of 10.50. After all the heats concluded, Pride Jr’s time was fifth overall and he qualified for Saturday’s final.
A duo of Irish runners had great performances in the 800m prelims. After qualifying for the 1500m final last night, Jessica Harris looked to double up for the second-consecutive ACC outdoor championship. She finished second in the first heat with a season-best time of 2:05.94. Kelly Hart also had a great time in the second heat as she finished second with a personal record of 2:06.42. The pair finished sixth and seventh overall and both qualified for Saturday’s final.
In the afternoon field events, freshman John Stefan put up a great mark in the men’s shot put final. He finished seventh and set a personal record with his fourth attempt, which traveled 17.11m (56-1.75). Stefan beat his mark from the shot put at the indoor championships (15.06m, 49-5.00) by over six feet.
Later in the evening, a trio of Irish finished back-to-back-to-back in the women’s shot put final. Indi Jackson led the way for the group, finishing fifth with her best mark of 15.66m (51-4.50). Rachel Tanczos was right behind her with a personal record of 15.35m (50-4.50). Abbey Kapitan rounded out the group, finishing seventh (15.30m, 50-2.50). Jackson and Tanczos both earned second team All-ACC honors.
Rachel Rhodes finished the second half of the heptathlon and ended with a personal record. After the long jump, javelin and 800m run, Rhodes finished seventh overall with 5,000 points. She improved her previous best mark by over 150 points.
Up Next
The Irish will be back at it Saturday for the final day of the championships. Saturday’s action for the Irish will start at 1 p.m. with Gabrielle Diederich in the women’s javelin. Track events and the ACC Network Extra broadcast begin at 5 p.m. with the women’s 4×100 relay final. 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.