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Keys To The Meet: Hurricane Invitational

March 15, 2018

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By Matt Paras

CORAL GABLES, Florida — Less than a week after the conclusion of the indoor track and field season, the University of Notre Dame track and field team is off to Miami for its first outdoor meet of the year at the Hurricane Invitational. The Irish will take on a number of talented teams this weekend while also getting a preview for the ACC Championships. The Irish will return to Coral Gables in May as Miami is hosting the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships.

The Irish left College Station, Texas with a silver medal in the distance medley relay and All-American honors in the mile and will look to add to that total this spring.

WHAT: Hurricane Invitational
WHEN: March 16-17, 2018
WHERE: Cobb Stadium (Coral Gables, Fla.)
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra (Saturday, 1pm)
LIVE RESULTS: Delta Timing

What to Watch

The Irish have a number of athletes competing that are coming off strong performances at the ACC Indoor Championships.

Troy Pride Jr. will be running in the 100m, 200m and the 4x400m relay this weekend. He garnered second team All-ACC honors by finishing sixth overall in the 60m dash final after setting a PR in the prelims.

Payton Miller is fresh off of her third consecutive first team All-ACC award after running the 400m leg in the distance medley relay. She will be running in the 400m and the 4x400m relay this weekend to open the outdoor season.

Jordan Shead will also be running in the 400m and 4x400m relay. Shead ran the 400m leg of the DMR for the Irish at the NCAA Championships. Summer Thorpe will join Shead and Miller in the 4x400m relay while also running in 4x100m relay and 100m hurdles. She earned second team All-ACC honors in the 60m hurdles when she finished fourth in the final.

Sophomore Logan Kusky is set to compete in the shot put, discus and hammer this weekend. He set a personal-best mark in the weight throw at the ACC Championships. That mark earned him fourth place and second team All-ACC accolades.

Matthew Birzer finished off the indoor season with another top-three finish at the ACC Championships. He finished runner-up in the high jump after clearing 2.18m. Birzer will be competing in the high jump Friday afternoon.

Return of the Irish

The Irish have some familiar faces returning for the outdoor season in Nathan Richartz and Harvey Smith. Both return for their final season of eligibility and look to make an impact from the start.

Richartz last competed for the Irish at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. He earned second team All-American honors when he finished ninth overall at nationals after clearing 5.45m (17-10.5). Earlier in May, Richartz won the high jump event at the outdoor ACC Championships for the second time in his career.

Smith last competed for the Irish during the 2015-16 indoor season. At the 2016 ACC Indoor Championships, Smith earned second team All-ACC honors after finishing fourth in the 400m. He was also part of the 4×400 relay team that placed fourth overall.

Live Coverage

The meet will have live results available via Delta Timing. Saturday’s portion of the meet will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra, starting at 1 pm ET.

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Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.