The University of Notre Dame track and field program welcomes the 14 other teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend for the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The three-day meet is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 27 and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 29 at the Loftus Sports Center.
Notre Dame’s top competitors will all be in action at the meet as they continue their push to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Irish currently have top-10 performers in 16 different events in the ACC this season.
Thursday’s action will include many of Notre Dame’s premier performers as the weight throw and DMR competitions will take place.
Rachel Tanczos and Abbey Kapitan are coming off career days at the Alex Wilson Invitational where they moved into first and second place, respectively, in the ACC in the women’s weight throw this season. Tanczos’ mark of 23.31m ranks first in the country while Kapitan’s throw of 22.23m ranks fifth.
On the men’s side, Logan Kusky looks to improve upon his top throw of 21.36m in the weight throw. That distance ranks him second in the conference and 19th in the country, putting him just outside of the top 16 individual performers who qualify for nationals.
In the DMR, the women’s team is coming off a time of 11:09.25 at the Alex Wilson Invitational, which places them fourth in the conference and 15th in the country. They are also on the bubble to qualify for the NCAA Championships as the top 12 teams get in.
The men’s DMR team looks to build upon their all-time performance at the Alex Wilson Invitational where they won the event with a time of 9:25.80, the second-fastest time ever recorded in NCAA indoor track and field history. They currently rank first in the ACC and second in the country in the event.
Yared Nuguse, the anchor of the men’s DMR team, will look to defend his ACC title in the mile on Friday.
MEET INFORMATION
What: ACC Championships
When: 11 a.m. ET — Feb. 27, 2020 | 11 a.m. ET — Feb. 28, 2020 | 11 a.m. ET — Feb. 29, 2020
Where: Loftus Sports Center | Notre Dame, Indiana
Links: Meet Schedule | Meet Info | Live Results
BY THE NUMBERS
40 — Events won by Notre Dame over the first eight meets of the season.
23.31 — Rachel Tanczos broke her own program record in the weight throw for the fourth time this season with a mark of 23.31m at the Alex Wilson Invitational. The mark currently ranks first in the country in the weight throw for the 2020 season and places Tanczos 11th all-time in NCAA indoor track and field history in the event.
20 — The Irish men finished the 2018-19 indoor season with a 20th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
8 — The Irish women finished in eighth place at the 2019 ACC Indoor Championships.
7:46.71 — Junior and two-time national champion Yared Nuguse won the 3,000m at the Meyo Invitational with a time of 7:46.71, setting the Notre Dame program record, the Loftus Sports Center record and the top time in DI this season.
6 — The Irish men finished in sixth place at the 2019 ACC Indoor Championships.
5 — Colton Crum posted the fifth-best height in program history in the pole vault at the GVSU Bill Clinger Classic on Jan. 17 with a mark of 5.21m to win the event.
4 — The total number of ACC Indoor titles Irish student-athletes claimed in 2019: men’s distance medley relay, men’s mile (Yared Nuguse), men’s weight throw (Logan Kusky) and women’s weight throw (Rachel Tanczos).
3 — Sophomore Matthew Carmody posted the third-fastest time (13:56.00) in Notre Dame indoor track and field history in his first ever collegiate 5000m run to win the event at the Iowa State Classic. It was also the second-best time in the ACC this season.
2 — The Notre Dame men’s distance medley relay team finished with a time of 9:25.80 to win the event at the Alex Wilson Invitational. That is 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.
1 — The finish of Notre Dame’s men’s distance medley relay team, comprised of Edward Cheatham, Sam Voelz, Dylan Jacobs and Yared Nuguse, at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, winning the program’s first NCAA title (also in the DMR) since 2012. The team also won the ACC title in the event.
NOTABLE
- 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, setting a PR in the event with a throw of 22.23m to take second in the event. Kapitan’s mark is now tied for fifth 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.
- Matthew Carmody finished first in the 5000m run at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 13:56.00, the third-best indoor time in program history and the second-best time in the ACC this season. Teammate Peter Monahan placed fourth in the event with a time of 14:06.22, the 10th-best indoor time in program history and the sixth-best time in the ACC this season.
- McKenna Caskey placed first in the pole vault at the Music City Challenge with a PR of 3.97m, the fourth-best indoor mark in program history.
- Mikayla Schneider finished fifth in the 800m run at the Music City Challenge with a time of 2:07.32, the fourth-fastest time in the ACC this season.
- 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 top time in DI this season.
- Summer Thorpe has won the 60m hurdle events in four of six meets this season and currently ranks fourth in the ACC in the event with a time of 8.27.
- Naya Sharp finished first in the 60m hurdles at the Music City Challenge with a time of 8.34, the top time of her career and the seventh-best time in the ACC this season.
- Sophomore Samuel Voelz placed second in the 800m run at the Meyo Invitational with a time of 1:49.22, the third-fastest time in the ACC this season.
- Sophomore Colton Crum ranks third in the ACC in pole vault entering the weekend with a height of 5.21m.
- Senior Logan Kusky enters the weekend ranked second in the weight throw in the ACC with a distance of 21.36m.