June 13, 2014
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Notre Dame track and field teams add four first team All-Americans to their record books today after day three of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Seniors Alexa Aragon and Michelle Brown, junior Chris Giesting and sophomore Margaret Bamgbose all finished in the top eight of their final events this evening.
“It was a good day,” said head coach Joe Piane. “The first one was Alexa. She was All-American, and a PR for her and a school record. In her last collegiate race, she ran the fastest time of her life-that’s pretty good.”
Indeed, not only did Aragon’s eighth place time of 9:54.27 break her own personal record in the 3,000m steeplechase, but it also set a new Notre Dame school record. With that finish, Aragon is named a first team All-American in the event for the second consecutive year.
Giesting came in seventh place in the men’s 400m dash with a time of 46.10, also earning first team All-American honors. On the women’s side, Brown and Bamgbose both broke the school record and set new personal bests in the women’s 400m. Brown came in fifth in 51.70 and Bamgbose finished sixth just .02 seconds later at 51.72.
“Michelle edged her out by a little bit, but that was a PR for both of those kids,” Piane explained. “They did an incredible job. And Chris was also just amazing. There were some really good performances by those kids.”
Graduate student Nick Happe also competed today in the men’s 5,000m run. He placed 12th with a time of 13:54.93, earning second team All-American. Although Piane admits that Happe has had faster times in the past, he explained that the long distance runner has been battling allergies all week and still managed to have an impressive finish in the race.
The last Irish competitor is junior Emily Morris, who holds the Notre Dame record in women’s shot put. Morris will compete tomorrow at 1 p.m. PST. Saturday marks the last day of the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships, but it also marks the last day Piane will act as head coach. That’s something the Irish will face tomorrow, but for now, Piane admits, “Mixed emotions.”
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–