April 3, 2004
Notre Dame, Ind. – It was a tale of two seasons at the Spring Opener on Saturday hosted by the University of Notre Dame. The early spring-like weather of late morning gave way to much colder and blustery conditions by mid-afternoon. The Notre Dame track and field teams made the most of the day however, winning ten events with many strong performances.
The highlight of the day was sophomore Stephanie Madia, who won both the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters. Madia posted times of 4:40.1 and 9:52.94 respectively in those events. Please note that these and all times for running events are unofficial at this time, official results will be posted within 48 hours on und.com. Senior Megan Johnson joined Madia in victory Saturday with an impressive win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Johnson was running the steeplechase for the first time in her career, and if her unofficial time of 10:54.70 holds up, it will qualify her for the NCAA Mideast Regional Meet in that event.
The other winners for the women’s team were sophomore Laura Huarte, senior Tiffany Gunn and sophomore Stacey Cowan. Huarte won the pole vault, clearing a height of 11′ 5.75″. Gunn won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.94. Meanwhile, Cowan won the high jump with a height of 5′ 6.25″.
Freshman Katie DeRusso finished second to Megan Johnson in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 11:10.54, easily qualifying for the BIG EAST Championships. Meghan Horn posted another good mark for the Irish, improving on her season best in the hammer throw with a toss of 144′ 8.25″. Kate Duman also improved her season best, throwing the javelin 136′ 1″ to place second in the event.
On the men’s side, junior Selim Nurudeen bettered his season best mark in the 110-meter hurdles. Nurudeen ran a time of 13.92 seconds with a slight tailwind. If that time holds up, it will be the eighth fastest time in the nation this year.
Senior Godwin Mbagwu won the triple jump and matched his season best with an effort of 48′ 9.75″, only eight inches short of an NCAA Regional qualification.
The other winners on the day were freshman Dan Driscoll and the 4×100-meter relay team. Driscoll captured first place with the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:08.69, and the relay team won with a time of 41.0 seconds.
The Irish men placed second, third and fourth in the 1500 meters. Freshman Todd Ptacek crossed the line in second in a time of 3:57.8, senior Todd Mobley followed in third (3:58.0) and sophomore Thomas Chamney was fourth (3:59.5).
Ryan Postel improved on his BIG EAST qualifying time in the 200-meter dash, taking third place in the event (21.85). Senior throws specialist Juan Alba continued to close in on an NCAA Regional qualification, placing fourth in the hammer throw (177′ 0.75″), a little more than five feet short of the NCAA mark.
Complete results from the Spring Opener will be available on und.com as soon as they become official.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will next be in action at the Tom Botts Invitational in Columbia, MO on April 9th and 10th.