March 16, 2017
By Megan Golden
ATLANTA — Just one week after the conclusion of the indoor track and field season, the University of Notre Dame travels to Atlanta to compete in its first outdoor meet of the year at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. The Irish will take on nine men’s schools and 12 women’s schools at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track on Friday.
The Irish left College Station, Texas, with six All-Americans Friday and will look to add to that number this outdoor season.
WHAT: Yellow Jacket Invitational
WHEN: Friday, March 17 at 9 a.m. ET
WHERE: George C. Griffin Track (Atlanta, Ga.)
LIVE RESULTS: Delta Timing (DeltaTiming.com)
What to Watch
Several Irish sprinters will be in action on Friday, including senior Taylor Craft, and freshmen Naya Sharp, Summer Thorpe, Madysen Hunter and Grace Cronin, who will race in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Junior Payton Miller will race in the women’s 400m dash, and senior John Rutkowski, junior Drake Stimson and sophomore Edward Cheathem will compete in the men’s 400m dash.
Notre Dame will have five women and three men in the 100m dash.
Freshman Abbey Kapitan and senior Indi Jackson will compete in the women’s shot put, while junior Hunter Holton and sophomore Matthew Birzer are scheduled to jump in the men’s high jump.
Craft and sophomore Alexa Coubal will compete in the women’s triple jump and the women’s discus, respectively. On the men’s side, sophomore Daniel Hardiman, freshman Shae Watkins and senior Anthony Shivers are all scheduled to throw in the men’s discus.
Junior Allison Bartoszewicz, sophomore Kyla Lewis and freshmen Michaela Butler and Sharp will combine to race in the women’s 4x100m.
They’re Back
After sitting out for most if not all of the indoor season, graduate students Danielle Aragon and Molly Seidel are eligible to compete in the outdoor track and field season.
Seidel, a four-time national champion, suffered an injury during the indoor season and is expected to be out for roughly four weeks. Seidel likely will return at some point during the outdoor season.
Aragon, a three-time first-team All-American, finished ninth in the 6K at the women’s 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships. She also came in 52nd overall at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
NCAA Indoor Championships Recap
Sophomore Anna Rohrer placed third in the women’s 5K (15:29.83), senior Nathan Richartz tied for sixth in the pole vault (5.45m) and the women’s DMR squad, which consisted of sophomore Kelly Hart, juniors Miller and Jessica Harris and senior Jamie Marvil, finished eighth (11:05.76).
Live Coverage
Live results from the Yellow Jacket Invitational will be available by visiting DeltaTiming.com.
For a closer, behind-the-scenes look at the Irish track and field program, 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.