Irish Set To Compete For National Titles In Albuquerque

The University of Notre Dame track and field program will be represented this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships by six athletes in three events. The two-day meet is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, March 13 and pick back up at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 14 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.

First up for the Irish will be the men’s DMR defending national champs, which is set to run at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday and will look to defend its NCAA title from last year. The DMR team qualified for the NCAA Championships at the Alex Wilson Invitational, where the lineup of Dylan Jacobs (1200), Edward Cheatham (400), Sam Voelz (800) and Yared Nuguse (1600) won the race in a photo finish with a time of 9:25.80. That time was not only the program, track and ACC record but also the second fastest time ever recorded in NCAA indoor track and field history for the event. 

Last time out at the ACC Championships, the squad of Sam Voelz (1200), Edward Cheatham (400), Jake Renfree (800) and Yared Nuguse (1600) captured gold for Notre Dame in the DMR for the second year in a row with a time of 9:43.55. The Irish DMR team enters the NCAA Championships as the No. 2 seed, only behind Oregon.

Next up will be the women’s weight throw as No. 1 seed Rachel Tanczos and No. 7 seed Abbey Kapitan are set to compete starting at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both throwers qualified for the national championships with career-best performances at the Alex Wilson Invitational. Tanczos’ throw of 23.31m broke her own program record for the fourth time this season and placed her first in the country in the event, while Kapitan’s throw of 22.23m gave her the seventh-best distance in DI this season.

They are each coming off another strong performance at the ACC Championships where Tanczos took home silver with a mark of 22.39m and Kapitan got bronze with a throw of 21.87m.

The Irish will wrap up their stay at the NCAA Indoor Championships with the men’s 3000m, which is set to start at 8:10 p.m. ET on Saturday as Yared Nuguse will look to earn his second career individual crown. Last year, he won gold at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the anchor of the men’s DMR team and then claimed an individual national championship in the 1500m during the outdoor season. 

Nuguse qualified for the 3000m this year at the Meyo Invitational, where he turned in a personal best time of 7:46.71. That time was a Notre Dame program record, Loftus Sports Center record and good for the fifth-fastest time in the country this season.

In his last time out, Nuguse defended his ACC title in the mile with another record-setting performance. He finished with a time of 3:55.62, setting a personal record, meet record, program record and Loftus track record. Impressively, the previous meet record stood since 1974 and the previous facility record was set in 1995.

With the mile and DMR on the same day, Nuguse will not compete in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships and will instead anchor the DMR team on Friday and run in the 3000m on Saturday. He enters the meet as the No. 5 seed in the 3000m.

ESPN3 will stream the championships live starting at 7:15 p.m. ET March 13 and starting at 6 p.m. ET March 14. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 9 p.m. ET Monday, March 16 on ESPNU.

MEET INFORMATION

What: NCAA Indoor Championships
When: 1 p.m. ET — Mar. 13, 2020 | 12 p.m. ET — Mar. 14
Where: Albuquerque Convention Center | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Links: Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live Stream

NOTABLE

• The Notre Dame track and field program racked up three USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Awards as Yared Nuguse, Rachel Tanczos and Sean Carlson each earned recognition. Nuguse was named the Great Lakes Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, Tanczos was named the Great Lakes Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, and Carlson was named the Great Lakes Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the men’s distance runners.
• Rachel Tanczos was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week as well as ACC Field Performer of the Week for the fourth time this season after posting the top mark (23.31m) in the country this season in the weight throw at the Alex Wilson Invitational.
• Abbey Kapitan also had a day to remember in the weight throw at the Alex Wilson Invitational, setting a PR in the event with a throw of 22.23m to take second in the event. Kapitan’s mark is now seventh in the NCAA this season.
• The men’s DMR team’s time of 9:25.80 at the Alex Wilson Invitational was the second-fastest time ever recorded in NCAA indoor track and field history for the event, as well as a program record, Loftus track record, and conference record. They were named ACC Track Performers of the Week for their performance.
• Yared Nuguse was named the ACC Track Performer of the Week by the conference after his record-setting performance at the Meyo Invitational in the 3000m run. Nuguse finished with a time of 7:46.71, the fifth-best time in DI this season.
• Nuguse defended his ACC title in the mile with a time of 3:55.62, setting a personal record, meet record, Notre Dame program record and Loftus track record. Impressively, the previous meet record stood since 1974 and the previous facility record was set in 1995.
• The men’s DMR team also took home gold at the ACC Championships with a time of 9:43.55, while Rachel Tanczos (22.39m) got silver and Abbey Kapitan (21.87m) got bronze in the women’s weight throw.

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