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Barber & Bamgbose Advance to NCAA Championship

May 28, 2016

By Lizzie Mikes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With 14 student-athletes entered in the NCAA East Regional Preliminary meet, the University of Notre Dame track and field team cheered on eight of the 14 Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida. Of those eight, three earned spots in the quarterfinals of their respective races. On Friday, two of the three qualified for the NCAA Championship, held in Eugene, Oregon next month.

Graduate student Kaila Barber and senior Margaret Bamgbose both qualified in their respective events to join multi-eventer Carly Loeffel at the NCAA Championship. It is the fourth consecutive season Bamgbose has qualified for the outdoor meet, while Barber, in her last year of elegibility, is making her third trip.

In the 400m hurdles, Barber raced to a time of 58.46 in heat four, good for third place in the heat and an automatic trip to the quarterfinals. Once in the quarters, she sprinted across the finish line in 55.53 seconds, and qualified for Eugene. Sophomore Jordan Shead ran in heat one of the preliminaries, and finished eighth in her heat with a time of 1:00.89.

In the 400m prelim race, Bamgbose not only won her heat by crossing the finish line in 52.43, she posted the eighth-fastest time of the day in the preliminaries. Moving into the quarterfinals, she finished the race in 52.18, improving to seventh overall en route to qualifying for NCAAs.

In the 800m, sophomore Jessica Harris followed Bamgbose’s example, winning heat one in 2:06.61 and earning an automatic berth in the quarterfinals, where she finished 10th (2:04.60) but did not advance beyond that. Junior Jamie Marvil also raced in heat five of the event, finishing seventh in the preliminary heat to the tune of 2:08.36.

In the women’s 10,000m, Lexi Pelletier finished just shy of qualifying for a trip to Eugene, Oregon and the NCAA Championship meet. The junior from Hampton, New Hampshire finished the race in 34:44.40, good for 13th overall (top 12 advanced to NCAAs).

Barber also raced in the 100m hurdles, setting the bar pretty high for her competition with the top time of 12.91. She races in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Anthony Shivers and Nick Hauser were both on deck in the men’s hammer throw competition, and finished 29th and 30th respectively. Hauser logged an impressive 61.59m toss, and Shivers exceeded his previous personal best in the event (58.37m) with an astounding 61.83m throw, which moves him up to No. 2 on the all-time best performers list. Shivers went on to compete in the discus throw as well, placing 15th overall with his 55.81m throw, improving on his previous personal best mark of 55.45m.

Thursday Results – NCAA East Regional

W 400m Hurdles – Prelims

  1. Kaila Barber 58.46 (advanced to quarterfinals)

41. Jordan Shead 1:00.89

W 400m – Prelims

  1. Margaret Bamgbose 52.43 (advanced to quarterfinals)

W 800m – Prelims

  1. Jessica Harris 2:06.61 (advanced to quarterfinals)

36. Jamie Marvil 2:08.36

W 10,000m

  1. Alexa Pelletier 34:44.40

M Hammer Throw

  1. Anthony Shivers 61.83m
  2. Nick Hauser 61.59m

Friday Results – NCAA East Regional

W 100m Hurdles – Prelims

  1. Kaila Barber 12.91 (advanced to quarterfinals)

W 400m- Quarterfinals

  1. Margaret Bamgbose 52.18 (advanced to NCAA Championship)

W 800m- Quarterfinals

  1. Jessica Harris 2:04.60

W 400m Hurdles – Quarterfinals

  1. Kaila Barber 55.53 (advanced to NCAA Championship)

M Discus Throw

  1. Anthony Shivers 55.81m
— ND —
Lizzie Mikes serves as Media Services Coordinator at the University of Notre Dame. A 2013 graduate of Johnson & Wales University, she oversees credential management and is the athletic communications director for Fighting Irish men’s and women’s swimming and diving and track and field. She has assisted with numerous NCAA postseason events hosted by Notre Dame, and is heavily involved in the day-to-day tasks of the athletic communications office.