Feb. 19, 2005
Syracuse, NY – Christopher Jacques is the 2005 BIG EAST Champion in the long jump, and a number of Irish men and women have qualified for the finals of their events on Sunday as first-day action at the Championships continues.
Complete results from all events are available at www.bigeast.org.
PENTATHLON
Stacey Cowan and Kate Jannazo started got day one of competition underway for the Irish in the women’s pentathlon. Cowan finished third in the event on the strength of an excellent high jump (5′ 10.5″). Cowan’s total score for the five events was 3635. Jannazo’s highlight was a tie for the victory in the 800m, she finished 11th overall with a score of 2913.
60m DASH
Maryann Erigha, the BIG EAST’s best sprinter, and her teammate Brienne Davis set the Irish up well heading into the Sunday final in the 60-meter dash. Erigha won the second heat of the preliminaries with the second fastest time on the day (7.51). Her teammate Davis qualified for the finals by taking second place in the third heat with the sixth best time overall (7.66).
No preliminaries were held in the men’s meet, as only nine competitors are entered, and all will compete in the finals on Sunday.
200m DASH
Erigha followed up the 60-meter dash with another easy victory in her heat of the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.48; she will be favored to win the event on Sunday. Brienne Davis will join Erigha in the finals, having advanced with a time of 25.08.
Selim Nurudeen claimed a spot in his third final on Sunday, cruising to a victory in his section of the 200-meter dash preliminaries (21.67). He will be joined there by teammate Dwight Ellick, who finished third in his heat, but a mere 0.04 seconds out of first; Ellick’s time was 21.89.
400m DASH
Okechi Ogbuokiri had the fastest time on the day in the women’s 400-meter preliminary. Her time of 55.96 easily won the first heat, and she will compete in the finals on Sunday.
In the men’s section of the 400 meters, Irish freshman Robert Kueny was the team’s top finisher, placing fourth in the third heat with a time of 50.69m.
500m DASH
Tiffany Gunn, the favorite to win the 500m on Sunday secured her spot in the finals with a victory in her section of the preliminary race. Gunn shut down with 50 meters to go, and holds the fastest preliminary time in the meet (1:13.72).
In the men’s meet, a pair of Irish will move on to the finals of the 500 meters. Trevor McClain-Duer (1:03.50) and Austin Wechter (1:04.92) each won their heats and will be seeded first and fourth respectively in the finals.
800m RUN
Brianne Schmidt was the number-one finisher for Notre Dame in the women’s 800 meters preliminary (2:16.69). Just behind her was Irish freshman Rachel Heneghan with a time of 2:17.21.
Adam Currie, the top seed in the men’s 800 meters, moved on to the finals with a time of 1:55.44 while taking third place in the first section of the event.
1,000m RUN
Freshman Jacqueline Carter will be the representative for the Irish in the women’s 1,000 meters. Carter qualified for the finals on Sunday with a time of 2:54.79.
Todd Ptacek and Jake Watson moved on to Sunday’s final in the 1,000 meters for the Irish men. Ptacek’s time of 2:26.78 was good for second place in the second heat of the preliminary and Watson captured third in his heat with a time of 2:28.74, good for the sixth-best time overall.
MILE
Stephanie Madia ran a strong preliminary in the women’s mile, and her time of 5:02.90 will put her in the finals on Sunday. Katie DeRusso will join Madia in the final, she moves on by virtue of her time of 5:05.59.
Kurt Benninger and Eric Morrison made it another pair of Irish in the men’s section of the mile finals on Sunday. The pair were first and second across the line in the first section of the preliminaries. Benninger was first in a time of 4:14.42 and Morrison was just behind him in second place (4:14.51). Vinny Ambrico also qualified for the finals in the mile, placing third in the second heat of the preliminaries in a time of 4:15.19.
5,000m RUN
In the first running event final of the weekend, Molly Huddle made her season debut in style. The junior claimed a second-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters. Huddle, out for the entire indoor track season with a broken foot, finished with a time of 16:12.17, which ranks as the eighth best time in the NCAA this season. Amy Kohlmeier placed eighth in the event with a time of 17:15.91.
Tim Moore battled a pair of Georgetown athletes at the head of the pack and led for the first half of the race, before claiming a third-place finish in the men’s 5,000 meters (14:27.25). Crossing the line fifth in the event was Kaleb Van Ort in a time of 14:29.57. All-American Todd Mobley rounded out the scoring for the Irish in the event, capturing sixth place in the event in a time of 14:34.
60m HURDLES
The first event on the track saw senior captain Tiffany Gunn and freshman Domenique Manning take to the track in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries. Manning and Gunn finished 10th (8.86) and 14th (8.97) overall in the preliminary round respectively.
Selim Nurudeen started his busy weekend off on the right foot. Nurudeen, the defending conference champ in the 60-meter hurdles took first place in his qualifying heat with easily the fastest time on the day. Nurudeen tied his season best time in the event (7.81). Joining him in Sunday’s final will be Geoffrey Bennett, who took third place in his qualifying section and will move on to Sunday’s action as the 6th seed in that final.
LONG JUMP
Christopher Jacques became the first BIG EAST champion for the Fighting Irish in 2005. Jacques won the men’s long jump on his last attempt, leaping a season-best 7.23m (23′ 8.75″).
POLE VAULT
In the women’s pole vault, the lone Irish competitor, Dee Dee Bryant, came within five centimeters of her season-best vault. Bryant finished with a height of 3.30m (10′ 10″).
The Irish men’s pole-vaulting duo of Justin Oppel and Dave Viken combined for 9.5 team points in the pole vault. Each cleared a height of 4.50m (14′ 9″). With Oppel tying for third place, and Viken claiming fifth place after a count-back of misses.
WEIGHT THROW
Meghan Horn had a solid outing in her first event of the weekend with a toss of 15.00m (49′ 0.75″).
The trio of athletes in the men’s weight throw picked up important team points for the Irish. The three Notre Dame men claimed third, fourth and fifth position in the event. Chip Roberts was the team’s top finisher, claiming third with a throw of 17.26m (56′ 7.5″). His teammates Garet Koxlein and Kyle Annen followed, each tossing a season-best in the event. Koxlein’s fourth-place effort was 16.91m (55′ 5.75″), Annen followed with a throw of 16.48m (54′ 1″).