Anna Weber finished fifth in the women's hammer throw at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Louisville, Ky.

Irish Squarely In Contention After Day One Of BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships

Feb. 17, 2007

Complete Results

AKRON, Ohio – Behind school-record performances in the men’s and women’s weight throws, both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams are well-positioned following the first day of competition at the 2007 BIG EAST Indoor Championships, being held at the University of Akron Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio. The Irish women, who are the defending champions, currently are tied for the lead with Louisville as each team has scored 26 points, putting them just ahead of Providence (25), Georgetown (24) and Pittsburgh (21) in an extremely competitive team race. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame men, who have finished no lower than third in each of their previous 11 years of league membership, are in second place with 39 points, trailing Louisville (54) while leading Connecticut (29), Georgetown (18) and Pittsburgh (15).

Senior Garet Koxlien (Galesville, Wis./Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau) etched his name in the Notre Dame record books on Saturday, placing third in the weight throw with a school-record heave of 18.77 meters (61-7), besting the old mark of 18.56m (61-3) set by Matt Thompson at the 2000 Alex Wilson Invitational. Koxlien also picked up his first indoor all-BIG EAST citation, to go along with a pair of outdoor all-conference certificates he previously earned.

Approximately two hours after Koxlien broke the Irish men’s weight throw record, sophomore Anna Weber (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) did the same on the women’s side, finishing fourth after her final throw was measured at 17.35 meters (56-11.25). Weber’s toss not only broke Dore DeBartolo’s school record of 17.08m (56-0.5) set at the 2000 Meyo Invitational, but also was just the second 17-meter throw in school history.

In the women’s 5,000-meter run, Notre Dame picked up 15 team points with a 2-3-8 finish. Senior All-American Molly Huddle (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) ran well in her 2007 debut, finishing second in 16:25.90 to establish a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships. Classmate Amy Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick’s) ran a personal-best 16:28.02 to place third, with those two times going down as the ninth and 10th-fastest marks in school history. For Huddle, it also resulted in her fifth career indoor all-BIG EAST honor (ninth overall in track & field), while Kohlmeier was awarded her second career indoor all-conference plaque (adding to another one earned during last year’s BIG EAST outdoor meet).

The Notre Dame men got one of their more pleasing performances of the day in the pole vault competition, with four athletes scoring points. Freshman Matt Schipper (Leo, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) couldn’t have picked a better time for a personal-best clearance of 4.80 meters (15-9), a height he reached on his first attempt that led to a second-place all-BIG EAST finish in the event (breaking a tie with Rutgers’ Brian Duggan). Fellow freshman Jim Merchun (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) just missed all-league plaudits with a fourth-place showing, clearing a personal-best 4.65 meters (15-3). Senior Dave Viken (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) took seventh and sophomore Tray Morgan (Daphne, Ala./McGill-Toolen Catholic) was eighth, as both men reached 4.50 meters (14-9) and then took their placements via the fewer-misses tiebreak.

Other all-BIG EAST outings for Notre Dame included: sophomore Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial), who earned his first track all-league citation with a runner-up finish in the 5,000 meters (14:13.82), and the women’s distance medley relay team (members unavailable at press time), which took third in 11:49.66.

Both Notre Dame teams will be back in action starting Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Much of the finals on the track will be contested on Sunday, along with the final three events in the men’s heptathlon and half of the field events. Live in-progress results from the meet, courtesy of Finish Timing, can be found by clicking here.

— ND —