April 24, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Irish track and field squads opened the weekend’s competition on a high note Friday earning nine top-five finishes at the Drake Relays and Hillsdale’s Gina Relays.
At Drake, the Irish finished second in the men’s 4×1600-meter relay, as Eric Quick took third in the men’s long jump and Matt Schipper finished sixth in the men’s pole vault. Marissa Treece finished fifth at Hillsdale’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Kendra Jennings earned the second position in the women’s high jump and Maddie Buttinger wrapped up fourth place in the women’s long jump. On the men’s side, Greg Kiley was fourth in the men’s 1500 meters, Balazs Molnar finished third in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, Andrew Hills was fifth in the men’s shot put and Dean Odegard earned a fourth-place finish in the men’s decathlon.
The Irish will continue competition at both meets on Saturday.
Drake Relays Results
Men’s 4x800m Relay: The Irish squad of Kevin Labus, Blake Choplin, Cameron Eckert and Jack Howard finished seventh in 7:21.43. Ohio State clocked in at 7:17.68 to win the event, followed by Minnesota in second at 7:18.18.
Men’s 4x1600m Relay: Notre Dame’s team of Jordan Carlson, Johnathan Shawel, Daniel Clark and Jeremy Rae narrowly finished second at 16:25.42, just behind Ohio State at 16:25.42.
Men’s Pole Vault: Matt Schipper tied for sixth with a height of 5.00m (16-04 3/4).
Men’s Long Jump: Eric Quick notched a mark of 7.23m (23-08 3/4) to finish third. Eastern Illinois’ Caleb Lee won the event in 7.59m (24-11).
Women’s Shot Put: Rudy Atang finished 17th in the finals with a toss of 13.94m (45-09).
Women’s Discus: Jaclyn Espinoza recorded a mark of 47.70m (155-06) to finish 14th.
Women’s Javelin: Elise Knutzen finished ninth with a toss of 40.73m (133-07).
Hillsdale Gina Relays Results
Women’s 5000m Invite: Rachel Velarde finished 22nd in 17:54.12, just ahead of Liz Barron in 26th at 18:09.65 and Susanna Sullivan in 31st at 18:13.74. Becki Ordway, competing unattached, won the event in 16:57.39.
Women’s 400m Hurdles: Toronto’s Sarah Wells was first in 58.54. Ericka Nowell finished ninth at 1:02.79, followed by Sasha Blanchard in 10th at 1:02.96.
Women’s 3000m Steeplechase: Marissa Treece finished fifth in 10:52.53. Calvin’s Elizabeth Smit was first in 10:29.55.
Women’s High Jump: Kendra Jennings finished second at 1.70m (5-07), just missing the winning height of 1.75m (5-08 3/4) set by Toronto’s Jillian Drouin.
Women’s Long Jump: Maddie Buttinger finished fourth at 5.63m (18-05 3/4), while Lauren Leniart was 17th in 5.04m (16-06 1/2). Ohio’s Alexis Geiger was first at 5.88m (19-03 1/2).
Men’s 1500m: Speed River’s Taylor Milne was the top runner at 3:42.46. Greg Kiley finished fourth in 3:49.01.
Men’s 5000m Invite: Spencer Carter finished 28th in 14:57.86, and Mat Abernethy was 45th with a time of 15:17.55. Julius Kiptoo, competing unattached, was the top runner in 14:10.48.
Men’s 400m Hurdles: Kevin Lanier II, unattached, finished first in 53.54, just ahead of Balazs Molnar in third at 54.28 and Matthew Brown in sixth at 55.18.
Men’s 3000m Steeplechase: Ryan Gamboa finished 13th in 9:20.19, while Thomas Noel was 16th in 9:23.64. Mizuno USA’s Corey Nowitzke won the event at 8:44.48.
Men’s High Jump: Doug Onuscheck finished 11th at 1.95m (6-04 3/4).
Men’s Long Jump: Connor Paladino finished 27th at 6.25m (20-06 1/4).
Men’s Shot Put: Andrew Hills finished fifth at 16.23m (53-03), and Mike Smigelski was 11th at 47.50m (155-10).
Men’s Decathlon: Dean Odegard earned 6,040 points to finish fourth. Central Michigan’s Josh Kettlewell finished first with 6,522 points.
–ND–