Feb. 4, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 10th annual adidas/Meyo Invitational kicked off Friday night with five individuals and five relay teams reaching NCAA provisional times/marks in first day action at the Meyo Track and Field.
Notre Dame’s Dore DeBartolo (Aurora, Ill.) started the night by winning the women’s 20-pound weight throw with a school-record toss of 56-0 1/2. DeBartolo’s mark beat her own school record of 54-7 1/4 which she set last year as a freshman.
After Missouri’s Micah Shanks captured the men’s weight throw with a toss of 62-3 1/2, Notre Dame freshman Jamie Volkmer (Kearney, Neb.) won the pole vault by clearing 11-0 to tie her own school record which she set earlier this season at the Notre Dame quad meet, January 21. Not to be outdone, former Notre Dame record-holder, sophomore Natalie Hallett (Huntington Beach, Calif.), also tied the school record by clearing 11-0 to finish in second place.
Rice University’s Drexell Owusu set new meet and Meyo Track records in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 52-7 1/2, provisionally qualifying for the NCAAs. Alabama’s Miguel Pate also recorded an NCAA provisional mark by finishing second to Owusu with a jump of 52-0 1/2. Missouri’s Lindsey Miller, meanwhile, won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 38-9 3/4.
In the running events, University of Chicago’s Rhiana Echols recorded an NCAA qualifying time in the 5,000 meters (16:54.08), beating her nearest competitor, Michigan’s Katie Ryan, by more than 11 seconds. The Wolverines, however, rebounded in the men’s 5,000 with Steve Lawrence winning the 18-runner event with a NCAA provisional time of 14:06.76.
After Missouri won the women’s distance medley relay (11:34.40), Alabama took first in an exciting men’s distance medley relay with a meet record, track record and NCAA provisional time of 9:43.18. The Crimson Tide just beat out the Notre Dame team of Phil Mishka (Toledo, Ohio), Chris Cochran (Crystal Lake, Ill.), Tim Kober (Gillette, N.J.) and Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.), which finished with another NCAA provisional time of 9:43.78. Third-place Rice University rounded out the night’s NCAA provisional qualifiers with a time of 9:45.11.
The adidas/Meyo Invitational continues Saturday, Feb. 5, with the women’s long jump at 10 a.m. The final event of the afternoon, the men’s 4×440-yard relay, kicks off at 3:50 p.m.