Junior triple jumper Mary Esther Gourdin was Notre Dame's top finisher at the Billy Hayes Invitational as she finished second in the triple jump.

Irish Track And Field Athletes Compete At Indiana University's Billy Hayes Invitational

May 3, 2014

Bloomington, Ind. –

Billy Hayes Invit. ResultsGet Acrobat Reader

The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Billy Hayes Invitational, hosted by the Indiana University on Saturday with the emphasis on the team’s throwers and jumpers as they looked to qualify for the NCAA Regionals that will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., at the end of May.

Leading the Irish at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on Saturday afternoon was junior triple jumper Mary Esther Gourdin (Greer, S.C.) who finished second with a jump of 40-00.75 (12.21m). Gourdin recorded her best jump of the day on her first jump and was second to Indiana State’s Carmelia Steward who won the event with a jump of 41-00.25 (12.5 m).

For the women’s team, following Gourdin with a third-place finish in the hammer throw was sophomore Lena Madison (New Buffalo, Mich.). She took third with a throw of 169-05 (57.63m) with her best coming on her second throw of the day. She finished behind Indiana State’s Mary Theisen (177-07) and Kylee Doubletree of Central Michigan (177-01).

Madison also competed in the discus where she fouled on all three attempts and was 12th in the shot put with a throw of 40-11.75 (12.49m). Joining Madison in the discus and shot put was freshman Indi Jackson (Pontiac, Mich.). Jackson was 14th in the discus (122-10, 37.73m) and 13th in the shot put (40-01.25 (12.22m).

A pair of Irish women competed in the long jump with Emily Carson (Fr., Haddonfield, N.J.) finishing fifth with a leap of 18-08.00 (5.69m) while senior Jessie Christian (Washington, D.C.) was ninth with a jump of 17-08.00 (5.38m).

Freshman Taylor Craft (Fremont, Calif.) rounded out the women’s competitors as she competed in the 100-meter hurdles. Craft finished seventh in the preliminaries with a time of 14.74 and followed with a sixth-place finish in the finals with a time of 14.68.

On the men’s side, Notre Dame’s top finisher came in the discus as freshman Anthony Shivers (Salem, Ohio) came in fourth on the day with a throw of 155-10.5 feet (47.51m). Central Michigan’s Cole Walderzak took the event with a throw of 175-6.0 (53.59m). Shivers also competed in the hammer throw where he was 19th with a throw of 147-03 (44.88m).

Following Shivers, Notre Dame’s next top finishes came in the long jump as juniors Carson Barnes (Ottawa, Kan.) and Keith Mesidor (Brooklyn, N.Y.) were sixth and seventh respectively. Barnes turned in a jump of 23-05.25 (7.14m) on his first jump and it remained his best of the day. Mesidor was right behind him with a leap of 23-04.00 (7.11m).

In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Aaron Dunn (Bellefontaine, Ohio) was eighth in a time of 53.59 while teammate Conner Stapleton (Fr., Greenwood, Ind.) was 13th in a time of 54.96.

Two Irish runners competed in the 800 meters with freshman Andrew Stone (North Wales, Pa.) finishing 10th in a time of 1:52.65 while Adam Turner (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.) was 19th in a time of 1:56.20.

Other finishes for Notre Dame in the field events belonged to Gil Stamm (So., Connersville, Ind.), who was 13th in the javelin with his best throw being 152-05 (46.47m). Nick Hauser (So., Hackettstown, N.J.) was 11th in the hammer with a top throw of 168-11 (51.48m) and Nate Richartz (Fr., Island Lake, Ill.) was 15th in the pole vault with a jump of 15-1.11 (4.60m).

The Irish will return to action next weekend as members of the Irish track and field teams will travel to three different meets – May 9-10 – as they compete at the Dr. Keeler Invitational in Naperville, Ill., the Grand Valley Last Chance Meet in Allendale, Mich., and the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Va. These three meets also will be used by Notre Dame team members as a tune up and a last chance to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Preliminary Meet that will be held in Jacksonville, Fla., May 29-31.