February 12, 1999

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s track & field teams turned in strong performances this past weekend as the Irish hosted the ninth annual adidas/Meyo Invitational at Meyo Field in the Loftus Center. The men captured five first-place finishes, while the women took home six first-place finishes. Senior Mike Brown (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) led the men with his third first-place finish of the season as he vaulted 17-2 3/4 to provisionally qualify for the 199 NCAA indoor championships. The women were led by junior Jennifer Engelhardt (Battle Creek, Mich.) as she placed first in the high jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 5-9 3/4. This marks the second time in Engelhardt’s collegiate career that she has provisionally qualified for the NCAA championships. During her freshman year, she provisionally qualified for and competed in the NCAA championships and earned All-American status by placing ninth.

Adidas/Meyo Invitational Recap: After getting shut out of the winner’s circle on day one of the adidas/Meyo Invitational, the men’s squad roared back on Saturday. Junior Marshaun West (Sikeston, Mo.) added to his already impressive list of accomplishments as he placed first in the 200 meters with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 21.16. Junior Matt Thompson (Granite Bay, Calif.) captured his first career win as he placed first in the shot put with a toss of 51-3, while his classmate Phil Mishka (Toledo, Ohio) ran to a win in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:27.56. Freshman Pat Conway (Springfield, Va.) picked up his first collegiate win with his time of 4:12.95 in the mile. Among the team’s eight second-place finishes were freshman Quill Redwine’s (San Antonio, Tex.) mark of 47-2 1/4 in the triple jump, and West’s jump of 23-11 3/4 in the long jump. Senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) narrowly missed provisionally qualifying in the mile as he finished second with a time of 4:05.87, and senior Bobby Brown (Lauderhill, Fla.), running in his first meet of the year, placed second in the 400 meters with a time of 48.43. Notre Dame’s women’s track & field team continued its impressive season as they performed well against tough competition. Senior Nadia Schmiedt (London, Ont.) ran to a first-place finish in the 400 meters with a time of 56.06, and junior Sarah Lopienski (Hudson, Ohio) placed first in the 500 meters as she ran to a time of 1:19.88. Freshman Natalie Hallett (Huntington Beach, Calif.) picked up her first collegiate victory in the pole vault as she vaulted 10-0, the second-best vault in Notre Dame history and the second time in as many weeks that she has vaulted over 10 feet. Her classmates Anne McGrath (Belmont, Mich.) and Dore DeBartolo (Aurora, Ill.) also turned in some impressive performances. McGrath ran to victory in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:53.42, while DeBartolo picked up a second-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 43-1 1/4 and a third-place finish in the 20 pound weight throw with a toss of 54-7 1/4. Sophomore Janelle Reklau (Indianapolis, Ind.) placed second in the long jump with a leap of 17-3/4, while senior Kelle Saxen (Toledo, Ohio) finished right behind Jennifer Engelhardt in the high jump as she placed third with a mark of 5-8. Sophomore Jennifer Pavela (LaCrosse, Wisc.) narrowly missed winning the 1,000 meters as she finished a close second with a time of 2:53.57, and freshman Tiffani Tatum (Aberdeen, Wash.) ran to a third-place finish in the 60 meters with a time of 8.03.

Freshmen Lead Irish: Notre Dame’s women’s track & field team owes much of its current success to the team’s impressive crop of freshmen. This year’s class of freshmen already owns three Notre Dame records and numerous meet records. Dore DeBartolo was the first of the group to set a Notre Dame record tossed 51-3/4 in the 20 pound weight throw at the Red Simmons Invitational on January 23rd. DeBartolo has since improved the mark to 54-6 3/4. Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Tex.) set a new mark in the 400 meters as she ran to a time of 54.89 in the dual meet versus Indiana. Grow’s time took nearly a half-second off the old record of 55.31 set by Alison Howard in 1997. Natalie Hallett became the first Notre Dame woman to vault over 10 feet as she set the school mark of 10-1/2 in the dual meet versus Indiana. Hallett’s mark of 10-1/2 broke the school record of 9-6 1/4 which she had set a week earlier at the Red Simmons Invitational.