May 12, 2017
By Megan Golden
ATLANTA — The University of Notre Dame track and field team collected its 13th individual Atlantic Coast Conference title on the first day of the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track on Friday.
Following the first day of action, the Irish women stand tied for fourth place (10 points), and the men’s squad is tied for 10th (one point).
The first day of conference championships was highlighted by sophomore Anna Rohrer’s third ACC title this academic year, this time coming in the 10,000m race (33:22.05). Rohrer lapped nearly every runner and finished more than one minute ahead of the second-place finisher.
Graduate student Kathleen Darling (37:23.95) and junior Kaitlin Frei (37:34.33) finished 12th and 13th in the 10,000m, respectively.
Juniors Kevin Pulliam (30:17.00) and Brent Kennedy (30:26.08) ran in the 10,000m and came in ninth and 10th place.
In the women’s 1,500m preliminaries, junior Jessica Harris (4:26.28) and graduate student Danielle Aragon (4:26.35) finished first and second in their heat, respectively, automatically qualifying for the finals on Sunday. Harris placed ninth overall, while Aragon came in 11th.
Senior Jacob Dumford advanced to the 1,500m final with a sixth-place finish and a personal-best time of 3:45.96. Senior Christopher Marco (3:50.85) and freshman Ryan Schweizer (3:51.69) placed 14th and 16th overall but did not qualify for the finals.
Freshman Michaela Butler (24.72) matched her personal record and raced to 23rd place in the 200m dash, while sophomore Kyla Lewis (24.81) finished 25th.
Freshman Troy Pride Jr. (21.354) came just .003 seconds shy of tying the final qualifier in the 200m dash. Pride finished ninth overall, while sophomore Zachary Zajdel placed 25th (22.12).
Junior Jordan Shead raced to a seventh-place finish (58.85) in the 400m hurdles, qualifying for the finals on Sunday. Freshman Grace Cronin crossed the line in 1:03.01 (20th overall). Both Shead and Cronin recorded personal records.
For the men, junior Drake Stimson (52.66) placed 10th in the 400m hurdles, falling just two places shy of qualifying.
In the men’s hammer, freshman Logan Kusky finished eighth with a personal-best 57.45m (188-6) throw. Fellow freshman Abbey Kapitan placed 17th on the women’s side with a 43.12m (141-6) throw.
Following the first four events of the women’s heptathlon, junior Rachel Rhodes stands in 10th place with 2,854 points.
Coming Up Next
Senior Nathan Richartz will look to win his second ACC title in the pole vault, which begins at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Richartz, who owns a school record 5.51m (18-1) mark, will try to improve his national ranking (No. 10) to secure a spot at the NCAA Championships in Eugene.
Kusky returns to the field at 3 p.m. ET for the men’s shot put, and Kapitan and senior Indi Jackson will throw for the women at 6 p.m.
Freshmen Keira Kelly and Libby Parsons will make their postseason debut as they compete in the women’s high jump at 6 p.m.
Rhodes will complete the duration of the heptathlon on Saturday, when she will compete in the long jump, javelin and 800m.
On the track, the men’s and women’s 800m runners will highlight the day’s competition as the experience of seniors Patrick O’Connell, Eric Gebeke and Jamie Marvil will guide a group of seven student-athletes in the event. Harris, junior Kirk Hansen and sophomores Kelly Hart and Stephanie Knight will join the senior trio in the 800m.
Senior Taylor Craft will lead a youthful group of sprinters, including freshmen Grace Cronin, Madysen Hunter, Jernaya Sharp and Summer Thorpe, in the 100m hurdles preliminaries.
The Irish have six student-athletes entered in the 100m dash, including senior Tommy Grant, sophomores Zachary Zajdel and Kyla Lewis and freshmen Pride, Butler and Jernaya Sharp.
Junior Payton Miller and senior John Rutkowski are scheduled to race in the 400m preliminaries, which start at 6:25 p.m.
Saturday’s events conclude with the women’s 3,000m steeplechase finals, which features graduate student Sydni Meunier.
Meet Coverage
The meet will be broadcast by the ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and 5 p.m. ET on Sunday. Live results are available here.
Fans are encouraged to check out the ACC Fan Guide before attending this weekend’s championships. For the complete ACC Championships schedule, click here.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish track and field program, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.