April 7, 2012
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Several strong performances highlighted the Stanford Invitational for the Notre Dame track and field squads on Easter weekend in Palo Alto, Calif.
Emily Morris won the collegiate shot put and the men’s 4×400 team each won gold to give the Irish two victories among a multitude of top-three finishes at the two-day meet.
The Irish return to action next weekend when they head to Louisville, Ky., for the Louisville Border Battle hosted by the University of Louisville.
DAY ONE
Emily Morris claimed the lone Irish victory on day one, winning the collegiate edition of the shot put with a toss of 14.71m (48-03.25 ft). Her throw would have been good enough for ninth in the invitational shot put that was also held on day one. Madeline Casanova finished seventh in the collegiate shot put with a throw of 12.67m (41-07.00 ft).
Maddie Buttinger finished third in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 1.76m (5-09.25 ft).
George Atkinson III won his 100m prelim in 10.61, before taking sixth in the finals in 10.69.
Three Irish sprinters finished in the top two in their respective heats in the 400m dash. Chris Giesting (46.32) and Patrick Feeney (47.36) placed one and two in heat one, while Brendan Dougherty took second in heat two in 47.98.
Jeremy Rae finished second in his heat and sixth overall in the 1,500m run with a time of 3:41.34. Senior Johnathan Shawel took second in his heat in the 1,500m run with a time of 3:45.86.
Logan Renwick took second in the long jump with a leap of 7.04m (23-01.25 ft).
A pair of Irish performed well in the discus as Dominick Padovano finished first in his flight and second overall with a toss of 49.24m (161-06 ft). Anthony Thomas took fifth in his heat and sixth overall with a hurl of 48.38m (158-09 ft).
Michelle Brown (54.07) and Natalie Geiger (55.58) placed second and sixth, respectively, in heat one of the 400m dash. Brown claimed second overall, while Geiger was seventh.
Rebecca Tracy (4:19.39) took seventh in section one of the 1,500m run, while Kelly Curran (4:22.74) placed seventh in section two and Emily Frydrych (4:27.85) finished third in section four.
Alexa Aragon crossed the line in third place in section heat of the 3,000m steeplechase after turning in a time of 10:25.82.
Two Notre Dame distance runners finished in the top seven of section two of the 10,000m run as Rachel Velarde (33:53.83) and Gabby Gonzales (33:56.86) finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
Nevada Sorenson qualified seventh for the finals in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.69. Jade Barber (14.03) and Buttinger (14.93) finished third and fifth in their respective heats, but failed to qualify for the finals.
Kaila Barber (58.84) and Megan Yanik (60.20) took second and third in the 400m hurdles.
Kelly Burke led the way for the Irish in the pole vault, tying for third with a vault of 3.75m (12-03.50 ft). Teammate Annie Polcari tied for sixth with a vault of 3.60m (11-09.75 ft).
Amanda Chamblee placed third in the javelin with a throw of 41.05m (134-08 ft).
DAY TWO
The Notre Dame men’s 4x400m relay team took the title, winning by .26 seconds over Minnesota, finishing in 3:08.82.
Kevin Schipper continued his impressive outdoor season, collecting a second-place finish in an elite pole vault field. The Leo, Ind., product tied for second with a vault of 5.35m (17-06.50 ft).
Casanova opened day two with a fourth-place showing in the hammer throw with a toss of 50.14m (164-06 ft).
The Notre Dame women’s 4x100m relay team took third in 45.78.
Tracy finished eighth in the 800m run with a time of 2:06.70. She finished third in her heat. Elsewhere Kelly Curran placed first in her heat (2:09.70) and Frydrych placed third in her heat (2:10.91).
In the men’s 800m, Randall Babb placed fourth in section three (1:52.88), Mitchell Lorenz took third in section four (1:52.05) and Jack Favorite took third in section six (1:53.28).
Aijah Urssery finished fourth in her heat in the 200m dash (25.02).
George Atkinson III placed third in section two of the 200m dash (21.53).
Sorenson finished fourth in the 100m hurdles (13.64) after qualifying seventh in the prelims.
Casanova took second in the collegiate discus with a toss of 43.45m (142-07 ft). Vivien Devaney followed right behind in third place with a throw of 43.39m (142-04 ft).
Fresh off his second-place finish in the long jump on Friday, Renwick recorded another second-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 15.04m (49-04.25 ft).
Burke took fourth in the collegiate triple jump with a leap of 11.85m (38-10.50 ft).
The women’s 4x400m relay team took third with a time of 3:40.11.
–ND–