February 4, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams took on Indiana this past Friday in a dual meet at the Loftus Center. The women avenged last year’s 92-67 defeat to the Hoosiers as they emerged victorious by a score of 82-78, while the men were edged out by Indiana, 84-78. Notre Dame freshman Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Tex.) led the Irish to victory by turning in an impressive performance in her first collegiate home meet. Grow broke two meet records and one Notre Dame record with wins in the 400 and 200 meters. Grow’s meet-record time of 54.89 in the 400 meters also eclipsed Alison Howard’s Notre Dame record of 55.31 set in 1997, while her time of 24.21 in the 200 meters broke the meet record of 24.39 set by Notre Dame’s Dominque Calloway in 1997. Junior Marshaun West (Sikeston, Mo.) was a double-winner for the Irish as he set meet records in both the long jump and 200 meters. West’s long jump of 25-0 earned him first-place honors and marked the second time in two weeks that he has jumped more than 25 feet. In the 200 meters, West blazed to a time of 21.17, the second-fastest time in Notre Dame history, as he provisionally qualified for the 1999 Indoor NCAA championships.

Indiana Dual Meet Recap: On the men’s side, the meet was close throughout as Notre Dame had a chance to win going into the triple jump, the final event of the meet. The men performed well despite the loss as the Irish set six meet records and captured seven first-place finishes. Senior Mike Brown (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) captured first-place honors in the pole vault with a meet record vault of 16-6. Senior Jay Hofner (Wheaton, Ill.) placed first in the 35-pound weight throw with a career-best and meet-record toss of 55-9 3/4, while junior Phil Mishka (Toledo, Ohio) ran to a meet-record time of 1:19.17 in the 600 meter run. Junior Tim Kober (Gillette, N.J.) also won the 800 meters with a meet-record time of 1:51.79 and senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) was the other first-place finisher for the Irish, winning the mile run with a time of 4:14.35.

On the women’s side, the Notre Dame took home seven first-place finishes. The Irish freshmen led the team to victory as they captured four of the team’s seven first-place finishes. In addition to Grow’s victories in the 200 and 400 meters, Krisa Diaz (Valparaiso, Ind.) finished first in the long jump with her leap of 16-10 3/4, while Hilary Burn (Ottawa, Ont.) placed won the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.79. Freshman Dore DeBartolo (Aurora, Ill.) and Natalie Hallett (Huntington Beach, Calif.) did not finish first in their events but did rewrite the Irish record book. DeBartolo’s second-place throw of 54-8 3/4 in the 20-pound weight throw eclipsed her own school-record mark of 51-3 3/4, which she had set the weekend before at the Red Simmons Invitational. Hallett’s third-place vault of 10-1/2 broke the Notre Dame record of 9-6 1/4, which she had also set the weekend before at the Red Simmons meet. Junior Patti Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) was a double winner for the Irish with a first place in the mile run (4:58.41) and the 3,000 meters (10:13.79) and senior Kelle Saxen (Canton, Ohio) matched her career-best in the high jump with a mark of 5-8.

How the WEST was won: Junior long jumper/sprinter Marshaun West has had a great season so far in just three meets. At the Red Simmons Invitational two weeks ago, West broke a 14-year-old school record in the long jump with a leap of 25-6 3/4. West’s leap broke James Patterson’s previous record of 25-5 set in 1985 and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships. The mark of 25-6 3/4 is also second best in the country, as of January 31, while his winning time in the 200-meter run against Indiana (21.17) is 10th fastest in the country and also a NCAA provisional time.

adidas/Meyo Preview: Notre Dame will host the ninth running of the adidas/Meyo Invitational at the Meyo Track this weekend. Teams competing in the invitational include Notre Dame, Alabama, Illinois State, Michigan and Western Ontario. Events for the two-day invitational begin on Friday, Feb. 5 with the women’s 20-pound weight throw at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, the invitational will start up again at 11:00 a.m. with the women’s long jump. Senior Nadia Schmiedt (London, Ont.) will attempt to repeat as champion in the 500 meter run after setting meet record time of 1:12.68 in the event last season, while junior Phil Mishka (Toledo, Ohio) will look to do the same in the 1000-meter run.