March 11, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Five Notre Dame student-athletes earned All-America honors at day one of the NCAA indoor track and field championships at the Randol Tyson Track and Field Complex. In all, six Notre Dame student-athletes competed in seven events, including senior Selim Nurudeen (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood), who collected All-America honors by placing sixth in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 7.78. Sophomore Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ontario/Walkerton D.S.S.) was part of the All-America distance medley team along with winning his one-mile heat in a time of 4:03.79 earlier in the evening. He will compete in the finals tomorrow night at 6:25 p.m. (CST). Below is a complete list of how each Fighting Irish athlete faired in Friday’s competition.
Women’s high jump: Junior Stacey Cowan (Ferndale, Wash./Ferndale) placed in a tie for 19th with a jump of 5-feet, 7.75-inches (1.72m).
Men’s 60-meter hurdles: Decorated senior Selim Nurudeen garnered his first-ever All-America honor by placing sixth in a time of 7.78. He posted a time of 7.77 in the preliminaries earlier in the day.
Men’s one-mile preliminaries: Sophomore Kurt Benninger was victorious in his heat as he crossed the finish line at 4:03.79. He will be gunning for the title tomorrow at 6:25 p.m. (CST).
Men’s 200-meter dash: Selim Nurudeen did not advance to the finals.
Men’s distance medley relay: The team of Benninger, seniors Eric Morrison (Ancaster, Ontario/St. Mary’s) and Trevor McClain-Duer (Olmstead Falls, Ohio/St. Ignatius) along with freshman Adam Currie (Verdun, Quebec/Richelieu Valley) placed sixth to reach All-America status in a time of 9:36. It was the first such honor for each individual. Benninger ran his leg in a time of 3:58.
Irish junior Stephanie Madia (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), a late addition to the crew of Irish athletes at the championships, will compete in the 3,000-meter race tomorrow at 7:35 p.m. (CST) during the final day of competition.
Full results of today’s action are posted on www.ladybacks.com. Log onto und.com for additional information.
— ND –