May 16, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Fourteen women and 10 male student-athletes will represent the University of Notre Dame’s track and field program at the NCAA East Preliminary Round next weekend in Greensboro, N.C., the NCAA announced Thursday afternoon.
Ten 2013 Irish indoor track & field All-Americans return to the national stage for a chance to earn All-America honors during both seasons. Jade Barber (60mH, 4x400m) and Michelle Brown (DMR, 4x400m) each collected first-team and second-team All-American citations in March during the NCAA National Championship at Fayetteville, Ark., to lead the way for Notre Dame.
J. Barber, Aijah Urssery, Michelle Brown, Rebecca Tracy, Martin Grady, Jeremy Rae, Brendan Dougherty and Chris Giesting are all return qualifiers from last year’s regional meet.
Patrick Feeney was Notre Dame’s highest finisher during the indoor national championship at the University of Arkansas this past March as the junior placed fourth in the 400m with a time of 46.03. Rebecca Tracy placed eighth in the mile (4:39.38) to earn her first team All-America citation.
The women’s distance medley relay team comprised of Kelly Curran, Michelle Brown, Danielle Aragon and Alexa Aragon collectively racked up first team All-America honors after placing seventh with a time of 11:01.49.
Megan Yanik, Margaret Bamgbose, Barber and Brown all contributed to an 11th place finish in the 4x400m relay to nab second team All-America accolades after crossing the line at 3:35.85.
Brown is ranked No. 2 on the TFRRS East Outdoor Qualifying List in the 400m going into the regional contest, while freshman teammate Margaret Bamgbose (Evanston, Ill.) joins her at No. 3 on the list. Brown set a new Bauer Track & Field Complex track record (Rutgers University) at the conference meet, registering a winning time of 52.19. Not far behind, Bamgbose crossed the line at 52.25 (second) to secure all-BIG EAST accolades with her counterpart.
J. Barber is ranked No. 5 in the 100mH while teammate Nevada Sorenson is No. 12. The pair finished first (13.08) and second (13.29) at the BIG East Championship, setting their regional qualifying times in the process.
Grady (29:14.21) ranks No. 7 in the region in the 10,000m run with Jake Kildoo (29:26.20) followed closely behind in 14th place. The pair picked up their qualifying times at the Stanford Invitational.
Tracy, the No. 9 competitor in the 1,500m, set her top qualifying time at the annual Border Battle April 13 with a time of 4:17.12. Tracy was just edged out of a BIG EAST title in the 1,500m, crossing the line just .22 behind Villanova’s Emily Lipari. Lipari anchored Nova’s 4x800m time at the Penn Relays (April 27) to set a collegiate record in the event with a winning time of 8:17.45. Teammate Kelly Curran (4:21.57) is the No. 29 seed in the field of 48.
Megan Yanik is the 25th ranked hurdler in the 400mH. Yanik placed second in the outdoor conference meet with a qualifying time of 58.65m. Yanik was just .46 from Georgetown’s Deseree King, who is ranked No. 9 in the event.
Rae returns to the scene after a brilliant outing at the conference championship, where he won the 1,500m in a time of 3:47.76. Rae brings a fury of post season experience, by most notably carrying a leg on the distance medley team and bringing home the program’s first indoor relay title (9:35.48) at the 2012 NCAA Indoor National Championships.
Carly Loeffel is seeded into the seventh spot on the Track & Field Results Reporting System’s 2013 Division I East Outdoor Qualifying List with a season high of 5,411 points tallied at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships on May 3. The 2012 BIG EAST indoor pentathlon runner-up, Loeffel, placed second in the event to earn all-BIG EAST honors once more this season. The sophomore was just edged out by Elizabeth Kline from Pittsburgh (49 points) for a first-place finish at the conference meet. Overall, the sophomore ranks No. 21 in the country in the heptathlon, sitting just 201 points away from a top-10 spot. Loeffel will forego the regional competition as a multi-event athlete and represent the Irish at the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career.
Emily Morris (Shot Put – third), Alexa Aragon (3,000m Steeplechase – first), and Logan Renwick (Long Jump – third) each secured individual all-BIG EAST citations at the league meet this past May.
Alexa Aragonwon the 3,000m steeplechase at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship with a time of 10:11.07. Aragon highlighted her conference meet with a major defeat over second-place finisher Shelby Greany of Providence by five seconds. Greany placed 10th at the 2012 NCAA Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase (10:19.54). Aragon enters as the No. 7 ranked competitor in the field of 48.
Renwick placed third in the event (7.62m) and was followed by Keith Mesidor, who finished fourth (7.53m). The distances for both marked career bests. Madeline Casanova (Discus – No. 31), Vivien Devaney (Hammer – No. 40) and J.P. Malette (5,000m-No. 45) round out the qualifiers for the Irish.
Notre Dame men’s 4x400m team is the fifth fastest team in the field of 24 with a time of 3:05.87. The foursome sits less than a second out of third-place and trails the top-seeded Florida Gators by three seconds. The women’s 4x400m team is ranked sixth with a time of 3:34.39, while the women’s 4x100m team enters as the No. 17 ranked squad (45.19).
Follow UND.com, Twitter (@NDXCTF) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/NDXCTF) for full NCAA Championship coverage.
WOMEN’S EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND QUALIFIERS
Aijah Urssery(100m, 4x100m)
Michelle Brown(400m, 4x100m, 4x400m)
Margaret Bamgbose(400m, 4x100m, 4x400m)
Danielle Aragon(800m)
Rebecca Tracy(1,500m)
Kelly Curran(1,500m)
Alexa Aragon(3,000m Steeplechase)
Jade Barber(100mH, 4x100m)
Nevada Sorenson(100mH)
Megan Yanik (400mH, 4x400m)
Amber Lalla (4x400m)
Emily Morris (Shot Put)
Madeline Casanova(Discus)
Vivien Devaney(Hammer)
MEN’S EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND QUALIFIERS
Patrick Feeney (400m, 4x400m)
Jarrod Buchanon (4x400m)
Brendan Dougherty(400m, 4x400m)
Jeremy Rae(1,500m)
Logan Renwick(Long Jump)
Keith Mesidor(Long Jump)
J.P. Malette(5,000m)
Martin Grady(10,000m)
Jake Kildoo(10,000m)
Chris Giesting(4x400m)
–ND–