April 14, 2017
By Megan Golden
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame track and field team is set to compete in its third annual Atlantic Coast Conference/Big 10 Challenge on Friday and Saturday at Cardinal Park (Louisville, Kentucky).
Notre Dame will join forces with ACC rivals Louisville and Pittsburgh as it takes on Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue of the Big 10. The Irish are looking for the individual and conference victory in their third straight ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
WHAT: Atlantic Coast Conference/Big 10 Challenge
WHEN: Friday, April 14 at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 15 at noon ET
WHERE: Cardinal Park (Louisville, Ky.)
LIVE STATS: Follow live here.
What to Watch
The Irish will begin competition on Friday with the men’s and women’s hammer throw. Senior Anthony Shivers and freshmen Logan Kusky, Shae Watkins and Abigail Kapitan will throw in the event.
On Saturday, the Irish have five women and two men scheduled to race in the 1,500m. Graduate student Sydni Meunier, senior Taylor Driscoll, junior Ashlyn Rambo, sophomore Anna Rohrer and freshman Madison Ronzone will run for the women. Graduate student Eric Gebeke and freshman Ryan Schweizer will race on the men’s side.
Rohrer, who is coming off of the top-ranked 10,000m race in the world this year, will make her debut in the 1,500m race.
Notre Dame has four sprinters entered in the 100m hurdles. Freshman Carter Sorenson will represent the men’s squad in the 110m hurdles.
Sophomore Kyla Lewis, who ran a 12.10 in the 100m dash last weekend at the Sun Angel Classic, will lead a group of four women in the 100m on Saturday. Lewis previously ran the sixth-best outdoor time in program history with an 11.69 mark at Cardinal Track at the Louisville Invitational in 2016.
Freshman Grace Cronin, who is one of three freshmen racing in the 100m, will join junior Jordan Shead in the women’s 400m. Senior Patrick O’Connell, junior Kirk Hansen and sophomore Edward Cheatham also will run in the 400m.
Nine Irish athletes are scheduled to race in the 800m including Schweizer, seniors Andrew Stone and Grant Koch and freshman Clay Goldman. On the women’s side, senior Jamie Marvil, juniors Stephanie Knight and Samantha Murray and sophomores Emily Franz and Kelly Hart will run in the 800m.
Junior Kaitlin Frei and freshmen Sean Kurdy and Tyler Keslin will race in the 5,000m. For Frei and Keslin, the race marks the first of the outdoor season. Kurdy, however, will be running in his second outdoor meet.
In the pole vault, senior Nathan Richartz will look to bounce back on Saturday following a slow start to the outdoor season. Freshman Kassadee Ifft will try to beat her 3.80m personal record in her third career outdoor meet.
Junior Rachel Rhodes and senior Taylor Craft will jump in the women’s long jump, while Sorenson and freshman Jack Jesse will compete in the men’s long jump on Saturday. Junior Hunter Holton, sophomore Matthew Birzer and freshmen Libby Parsons and Keira Kelly will look to rebound in the high jump.
School record-holder Indi Jackson leads a group of five Irish athletes entered in the shot put. In the discus, senior Anthony Shivers highlights the group of six Notre Dame throwers who are scheduled to compete on Saturday.
Live Coverage
Fans are encouraged to follow live results, which are available here.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish track and field team, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.