CHICAGO, Ill. – The Notre Dame track and field team competed at the Windy City Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin. The first day of the meet saw the Irish break a facility record and tally multiple top ten finishes. The final day of the meet was headlined by Katie Ryan breaking the indoor 800 meter school record.
Ryan capped off the meet by running a 2:05.50 in the 800 meter taking first place. This time established a new personal best and new Notre Dame indoor track and field record. Teammates Molly Grant and Reese Sanders also ran in the 800 meter race taking tenth and twelfth place with times of 2:11.36 and 2:12.52.
The pole vault squad had a great showing as Nolan Blachowski took second place with a mark of 4.94m. Olivia Fabry competed on the women’s side, hitting a mark of 3.67m. In the women’s long jump Alaina Brady and Jadin O’Brien competed and took marks of 5.61m and 5.55m, respectively. In the women’s high jump event, Madison Schmidt, Sarah Flight, and Arianna Martinez all represented the Irish. Schmidt took sixth place with a mark of 1.73m, while teammates Flight and Martinez each hit marks of 1.68m.
The distance crew had good showings as well. Josh Methner ran in the 5000m where he took a time of 13:54.20. Jake Renfree ran in the mile race where he placed in the top ten with a time of 4:12.27. The women’s team had a stellar performance with Anna Sophia Keller breaking a facility record in the women’s mile race. She crossed the finish line at 4:37.84. Teammate Siona Chisholm also ran in the mile race and finished with a time of 4:55.78.
Nick Miller represented the Irish in the 800 meter. He took fifth place with a time of 1:50.94. Joseph Dobrydney took third place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.21. Teammates John Oleksak and Luke Phillips were right behind him crossing the finish line at 49.04 and 49.52, respectively. Eve Balseiro led on the women’s side taking second place in the 400m with a time of 55.34. Molly Bennet and Remy Finn also ran for times of 56.98 and 57.38.
In the women’s 60m hurdles finals Jadin O’Brien finished in the top ten with a time of 8.57. In the prelims, Alaina Brady and Reese Sanders ran for times of 8.56 and 8.94, narrowly missing the finals. Both Paul Baynes and Shae Douglas ran in the 60m prelims for times of 7.04 and 7.53, respectively. Douglas also ran in the 200m dash for a time of 24.54.
Daelen Ackley led the Irish in the men’s one mile run, taking second place when he crossed the finish line at 4:03.15. In this race, Ackley established a new personal best, dropping two seconds from his previous mile time. CJ Singleton also established a new PR when he dropped four seconds from his previous mile time. He crossed the finish line at 4:04.55 to take fourth place. John Schuler and Nick Miller also represented the Irish in the mile race, they ran for times of 4:10.32 and 4:15.86, respectively.
In the women’s mile race, Sophie Novak led the Irish with a time of 4:47.60 to take fifth place. Erin Strzelecki was right behind her to take eighth place for a time of 4:50.51. Paige Grant crossed the finish line at 4:57.02.
In the women’s 3000m, Katie Thronson took second place and established a new facility record with a time of 9:07.67. The previous facility record was 9:13.49. On the men’s team Henry Chapman ran in the 3000 meter race for a time of 8:12.10 to take thirteenth place. Jackson Storey competed in the men’s 800 meter race. He crossed the finish like at 1:51.03 to take sixth place.
The final event of the day had the Irish in the 4×400 meter relay. The team of Shae Douglas, Jadin O’Brien, Molly Bennet and Eve Balseiro took sixth place with a time of 3:42.11.
The Irish return to the track on February 18 at Notre Dame when they host the