SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The 2023 Meyo Invitational concluded for the Irish after an exciting day of performances. The Irish saw several personal best performances, including Carter Solomon’s big day in the infamous “Meyo Mile” and Siona Chisholm taking first place in the women’s 3000 meter race. The Notre Dame track and field team also officially dedicated the weight throw events to late throws coach Adam Beltran; the weight throw at the Meyo Invitational is now known as the Adam Beltran Weight Throw.
The Irish started out with impressive outings on the first day of the meet when Jadin O’Brien took first place in the women’s pentathlon. She finished with 4283 points and finished in first place in three of her events. She took first place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.44, the long jump with a mark of 5.79m, and the 800m race with a time of 2:14.06. Teammates Alaina Brady and Reese Sanders also competed in the pentathlon finishing in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
The women’s long jump saw Kendall Burgess take fifth place with a mark of 5.80m. Emma Albano took sixth place in the women’s shot put with a mark of 14.13m, and Ava Butterbaugh and Alesis Juntunen took tenth and eleventh place, respectively. Butterbaugh hit a mark of 13.19m and Juntunen hit 13.07m.
Nolan Blachowski represented the Irish in the men’s pole vault taking fifth place with a mark of 4.78m. Michael Shoaf led the Irish in the men’s shot put taking first place with a mark of 19.31m. Henry Boudreau also competed in the shot put with a toss of 15.79m
The women’s high jump had three Irish in the competition. Madison Schmidt took first place with a mark of 1.80m. She was followed by teammates Arianna Martinez and Sarah Flight. Martinez took third place with a mark of 1.66m and Flight hit a mark of 1.61m taking eighth.
Shae Douglas ran in the 200m race with a time of 24.69 and teammate Juliana Keenan finished at 27.72. Paul Baynes also ran in the men’s 200m with a time of 22.56. Douglas also ran in the women’s 60m dash where she finished in seventh place with a time of 7.57.
In the men’s 5000 meter race, Henry Chapman led the Irish taking third place with a time of 14:14.15. Robert Cozean also ran in the race with a time of 14:27.39 taking eleventh place. Isalina Colsman finished the women’s 3000 meters with a time of 10:25.61.
In the Adam Beltran women’s weight throw saw Emma Albano take thirteenth place with a 16.50m toss. In the Adam Beltran men’s weight throw, Michael Shoaf took seventh place, Blake Kusky took twelfth, and Matthew Teague took seventeenth. Shoaf made a19.68m throw, Kusky hit a mark of 18.63m, and Teague hit 16.80m.
The men’s mile run featured Daelen Ackley, Ethan Coleman, Kevin Berry, Luke Schildmeyer, CJ Singleton, and Gabe Hinrichs. Ackely crossed the finish line at 4:05.23 followed by Coleman at 4:06.60, Berry at 4:07.56, Schildmeyer at 4:12.12, Singleton at 4:15.37, and Hinrichs at 4:21.63. The women’s mile had Molly Grant run for the Irish where she finished at 4:57.27.
The men’s 400 meter featured five Irish running. Joey Dobrydney took second place with a time of 48.14. He was followed by John Oleksak who took ninth with a time of 49.10. Luke Phillips crossed the finish line at 49.45, Matthew Cornelius at 51.06, and Frazier Dougherty at 51.28. The women’s 400 meter had Molly Bennet, Remy Finn, and Juliana Keenan. Bennet finished at 57.11, Finn at 57.30, and Keenan at 1:05.47. Paige Grant represented the Irish in the women’s 800 meter with a time of 2:13.68.
Eve Balseiro ran for the Irish in the women’s 400 meter final. She finished in sixth place with a time of 54.86. In the women’s 800 meter final Kaitlin Ryan represented the Irish where she crossed the finish line at 2:06.36. The men’s 800 meter had Nick Miller, and Jackson Storey run for times of 1:50.88 and 1:53.04, respectively.
The featured races of the meet, the championship mile races, featured Olivia Markezich, Katie Thronson, and Anna Sophia Keller on the women’s side and in the Meyo Mile Carter Solomon and Jake Renfree represented the men’s team. Markezich took second place with a time of 4:34.00, Thronson finished in fourth place with a time of 4:37.34, and Keller finished with a time of 4:40.94. Solomon took third place with a time of 3:57.13, recording his first sub-four mile time in his career. Renfree took eighth place with a time of 4:02.21.
Siona Chisholm continued the excitement of the featured races in the women’s 3000 meter race taking first place. She crossed the finish line at 9:04.48. Erin Strzeleck finished at 9:22.96 taking fifth place, and Sophie Novak finished at 9:24.63 for sixth place. In the Ryan Shay 3000 meter run, John Schuler took fifth place with a time of 8:16.63. Ryan Schumacher crossed the finish line at 8:22.22.
In the final event of the weekend, the 4x400m relays, the Irish had a women’s team composed of Shae Douglas, Jadin O’Brien, Katilin Ryan and Eve Balseiro. They finished in third place overall with a time of 3:40.44, but took first place in their heat. The men’s team was composed of John Oleksak, Luke Phillips, Nick Miller, and Joey Dobrydney. The finished in twelfth place with at time of 3:16.56.
The Irish will return to action next week when they travel to Boston University for the Valentine Invitational and the Windy City Invite. Both meets will take place on February 10 and February 11.