May 14, 2017
By Megan Golden
ATLANTA — It was no ordinary Mother’s Day for Katie Rohrer, who presented her daughter Anna with the gold medal at the podium following Anna’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in the 5,000m race on Sunday. Anna won her second conference title of the weekend and fourth of the year at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track.
Anna, who won the ACC Cross Country Championship in the fall, has won three track conference championships this season. In February, she won the ACC indoor 5,000m title on her birthday. This weekend, she was victorious in the 10,000m on Friday and responded with yet another championship — arguably the best Mother’s Day gift — in front of her mom on Sunday.
“I couldn’t stop smiling when my mom stepped on the track,” she said. “It was such a blessing to have her here and the perfect Mother’s Day gift to give the medals. She loved it.”
“Anna is running with a lot of confidence right now, and that carried her to the success she experienced this week,” Irish associate head coach Matt Sparks said.
Notre Dame’s women’s squad finished seventh overall with 53 points, while the men’s team came in 12th with 23 points. The women scored in every mid-distance and distance event of the weekend.
The Irish concluded action with three individual conference championships in the women’s 10,000m and 5,000m and in the men’s pole vault. Notre Dame, which entered the meet with 12 individual ACC titles, owns 15 individual ACC championships and 359 individual conference championships all-time.
Graduate student Danielle Aragon earned All-ACC First Team honors in the 1,500m, placing second with a time of 4:16.31. Aragon was followed by junior Jessica Harris (4:17.82), who finished fourth and received All-ACC Second Team accolades. Senior Jacob Dumford finished 10th in the men’s 1,500m finals, recording a time of 3:48.59.
Harris (2:05.04) tacked on five additional points for the women with a fourth-place finish in the 800m. Sophomore Kelly Hart (2:08.81) and senior Pat O’Connell (1:52.18) also scored for the Irish in the 800m.
Irish freshman Troy Pride Jr. set a personal record with a 10.47 mark and a sixth-place finish in the 100m dash. Pride received All-ACC Second Team honors, the first such honor of his young career.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, junior Jordan Shead (58.69) scored four points for Notre Dame with a fifth-place finish, earning All-ACC Second Team honors.
The Irish high-jumping duo of sophomore Matthew Birzer (2.09m, 6-10.75) and junior Hunter Holton (2.06m, 6-9) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, combining to score seven points and be named All-ACC Second Team members.
In the men’s 5,000m race, juniors Kevin Pulliam and Brent Kennedy recorded times of 14:29.80 and 14:35.90, respectively.
Sophomore Alexa Coubal led the Irish in the discus, throwing 44.93m (147-5). Senior Indi Jackson threw 41.16m (135-0), while senior Anthony Shivers and freshman Shae Watkins threw 46.78m (153-6) and 46.95m (154-0).
Senior Taylor Craft jumped 12.26m (40-2.75), placing 12th overall in the triple jump final.
The Irish women’s 4x100m relay squad of sophomore Kyla Lewis and freshmen Michaela Butler, Naya Sharp and Summer Thorpe recorded a time of 46.24.
The women’s 4x400m relay, which featured Shead, Thorpe, junior Payton Miller and freshman Grace Cronin, came in seventh, racing to the finish line in 3:40.47. The men ran senior John Rutkowski, juniors Drake Stimson and Kirk Hansen and sophomore Zachary Zajdel in the 4x400m relay and recorded a time of 3:13.33.
Learn more about Friday and Saturday’s results.
Coming Up Next
The Irish travel to Lexington, Kentucky, where they will compete in the NCAA East Regional on May 25-27 at the University of Kentucky Track.
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.