June 5, 2018
By Matt Paras
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the 27th straight season, the University of Notre Dame is headed to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Irish will send six student-athletes to Eugene in search of the program’s first outdoor individual national title since Molly Seidel won the 10,000m in 2015.
WHAT: NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
WHEN: June 6-9, 2018
WHERE: University of Oregon’s Hayward Field (Eugene, Oregon)
TV: ESPN
NCAA Championship History
The Irish track and field team has traveled to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 27 consecutive seasons. The women’s squad has made 25 straight appearances in the outdoor meet (1994-2018), while the men’s squad has qualified in 23 of the last 24 seasons (1995-2018).
Notre Dame has had more than one student-athlete qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships 42 times (19 seasons with two or more women; 38 seasons with two or more men).
What to Watch
Graduate student Nate Richartz opens the action for the Irish at 8 p.m. ET in the men’s pole vault. Richartz, who owns the school record (5.70m; 18-8.50), will make his third career appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Richartz’s defended his title and broke the school record at the ACC Championships after clearing 5.70m. He also set the championship record and his jump ranks fourth nationally entering the championships. The Island Lake, Illinois, pole vaulter finished ninth overall last season in Eugene when he cleared 5.45m (17-10.5) to earn second team All-American honors.
Jessica Harris will be making her second career appearance at the outdoor championships in the 1500m semifinals, which is scheduled for Thursday at 7:16 p.m. ET. Harris is coming off a second-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championships and earned first team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station. Last season in Eugene, Harris qualified for the 1500m final and finished 10th overall to earn her fourth All-American honor of her career.
Five-time All-American junior Anna Rohrer also heads to Eugene for the second straight season. After being sidelined for most of the season due to injury, Rohrer didn’t skip a beat in her first race this spring when she won the 10000m at the Penn Relays. She won the race with the fastest time in the past 15 years (33:35.24) and earned College Women’s Athlete of the Meet for Individual Events. Rohrer earned silver at the ACC Outdoor Championships in the 10000m and was second in the east preliminary round two weeks ago in Tampa. Last season in Eugene, Rohrer finished 16th in the 10000m and earned second team All-American honors.
Irish high-jumper Matthew Birzer will head to Eugene this week for the second straight season. Birzer cleared 2.11m (6-11) at the east preliminary round to secure his second career trip to nationals. Last year at NCAA’s, Birzer cleared 2.08m and finished 13th overall to claim second team All-American honors.
Annie Heffernan and Rachel DaDamio will be heading to Eugene for the first time in their respective careers. Heffernan earned the final qualifying spot in the 10000m at the east preliminary round after staying in the top-two with Rohrer for a majority of the race. DaDamio claimed an automatic qualifying position after making her move in the final 800 meters of the 5000m in Tampa. She was ninth with two laps to go and her last pass on the final straightaway got her a fifth-place finish in her heat.
Irish Schedule
Wednesday, June 6:
8 p.m. ET – Nate Richartz, Men’s Pole Vault Final
Thursday, June 7:
7:16 p.m. – Jessica Harris, Women’s 1500m Semifinal
9:38 p.m. – Annie Heffernan & Anna Rohrer, Women’s 10000m Final
Friday, June 8:
8 p.m. – Matthew Birzer, Men’s High Jump Final
Saturday, June 9:
6:41 p.m. – Harris, Women’s 1500m Final
8:25 p.m. – Rachel DaDamio, Women’s 5000m Final
Meet Coverage (All times ET)
The NCAA Championships will be broadcast by the ESPN Family of Networks for the duration of the four-day meet. See the complete broadcast schedule below.
Wednesday, June 6:
3:20 p.m. ESPN3
7:30 p.m. ESPN2
Thursday, June 7:
12:50 p.m. ESPN3
7:00 p.m. ESPN2
Friday, June 8:
3:20 p.m. ESPN3
8:30 p.m. ESPN
Saturday, June 9:
5:30 p.m. ESPN3
6:30 p.m. ESPN
Fans are encouraged to view the entire event schedule here.
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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.