Feb. 20, 2011
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame men’s track and field team finished in second place with 132 points, while the women’s team finished eighth, scoring 56 points at the BIG EAST Championship Sunday at the Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio.
The Connecticut men’s team claimed the BIG EAST crown, tallying 136.75 points. Notre Dame was trailed by Villanova in third place with 92 points. Louisville (87 points) and South Florida (63.75 points) rounded out the top-five team scores.
On the women’s side, Louisville won the BIG EAST Championship, scoring 110 points, followed by Connecticut with 108.5 points and Villanova was third with 86 points. Georgetown and West Virginia finished in fourth place (80 points) and fifth place (66 points), respectively. Cincinnati and South Florida tied for sixth place (58 points) and Notre Dame was the eighth-place finisher (56 points).
The men’s 4×800-meter relay, composed of Kevin Labus (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit), Johnathan Shawel (Placentia, Calif./Troy), Jeremy Rae (Fort Erie, Ontario/Lakeshore Catholic) and Jack Howard (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) dominated as they claimed the crown, setting the Stile Athletics Field House record, the BIG EAST record and the fastest time in the nation this year. That time was 7:25.31. The first-place finish moved the Irish score to 127 points, just behind Connecticut at 133 with only the 4×400-meter relay remaining in the 2011 BIG EAST Indoor Championship.
Unfortunately, the men were unable to re-claim the indoor BIG EAST title, but concluded the meet with several BIG EAST titles and all-BIG EAST honors.
Shawel earned a first-place finish in the 1,000-meter run and added 10 points to the Irish score as he finished the race in 2:26.94. Following close behind, Jordan Carlson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount) also earned all-BIG EAST honors, finishing in 2:27.47 for second place.
Justin Schneider (Atlanta, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian) finished third in the heptathlon with 5,227 points. The senior had much of the Stiles Athletics Field House clapping with him during his final stretch at the pole vault. Schneider dominated as he vaulted 4.90m and the second-place finisher in the event was Jesse Chapman of Connecticut was only at 4.40m. The third-place finish was Schneider’s third all-BIG EAST honor.
The men’s and women’s team both saw BIG EAST titles in the mile. On the men’s side, Rae ran 4:08.01 to defeat Villanova’s Matthew Gibney who finished in 4:08.37. Rae’s teammate, J.P. Malette (Windsor, Ontario/Assumption College Catholic) earned all-BIG EAST honors as he concluded the race in third place in 4:09.60. Rebecca Tracy (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) claimed the crown in the women’s mile, running the mile in 4:46.61.
Howard tried to re-claim his 800-meter BIG EAST title, but barely missed, as he finished second in 1:50.54. Howard led much of the race, it wasn’t until the final stretch that senior Michael Rutt of Connecticut pulled away to beat Howard by less than half of a second (1:50.10). Howard gave a valiant effort as he dove head first across the finish line to earn all-BIG EAST honors.
Patrick Feeney (Indianapolis, Ind./New Palestine) earned his first BIG EAST title at his first conference meet, winning the 400-meter dash in 48.11. The freshman defeated Villanova’s Carlton Bowers who finished in 48.37.
In the men’s 3,000-meter run, Carlson earned his second all-BIG EAST honor of the day after taking second place in 8:20.52. Senior Denes Veres (Ellwood City, Pa./Riverside) earned BIG EAST honors in the shot put. The senior had a throw of 17.33m to earn the honor, his sixth of his Notre Dame field career.
The Irish return home for the Alex Wilson Invitational Fri. and Sat., March 4-5.
Notre Dame Women’s Results:
60-meter hurdles: Nevada Sorenson finished fifth in 8.69 and added four points to the Irish score.
500-meter dash: Natalie Johnson had a fifth-place finish in 1:13.99.
Mile: Rebecca Tracy was the first-place finisher in 4:46.61, while Alexa Aragon finished fifth (4:54.66) and Marissa Treece finished eighth in 5:01.39.
1,000-meter run: Kelly Curran finished in fourth place (2:52.46) and McKinzie Schulz was the fifth-place finisher in 2:53.57.
800-meter run: Abby Higgins finished in fifth place in 2:11.24 and earned four points for the Irish.
3,000-meter run: Rachel Velarde finished 11th in 9:44.48 and Meg Ryan was the 15th-place finisher in 9:51.60.
4×800-meter relay: Notre Dame was the fourth-place finisher in 8:59.71.
4×400-meter relay: Notre Dame finished in fifth place in 3:46.04.
Triple Jump: Jasmine Williams finished 12th (11.77m) and Kelly Burke was the 15th-place finisher (11.37m).
Shot Put: Rudy Atang was the sixth-place finisher (14.73m)
High Jump: Kendra Jennings was the 10th-place finisher (1.65m).
Pole Vault: Chrissy Finkel was the ninth-place finisher (3.70m). Kathryn Barousse and Kelly Burke finished 16th, both vaulting 3.40m.
Men’s Results:
Heptathlon: Justin Schneider finished in third place with 5,227 points. Alex Bavis was the seventh-place finisher (4,456 points) and Dean Odegard finished ninth (4,067 points).
60-meter hurdles: Jarrod Buchanon had a seventh-place finish in 8.47.
500-meter dash: Mitch Lorenz finished in eighth place in 1:04.37.
400-meter dash: Patrick Feeney finished in first place in 48.11, while Edward Hitchler finished eighth in 48.88.
Mile: Jeremy Rae finished first in 4:08.01 and J.P. Malette was the third-place finisher in 4:09.60.
200-meter dash: Edward Hitchler finished ninth in 22.31.
1,000-meter run: Johnathan Shawel finished in first place in 2:26.94, followed by Jordan Carlson in second place (2:27.47).
800-meter run: Jack Howard finished second in 1:50.54 and Kevin Labus was the sixth-place finisher in 1:51.44.
3,000-meter run: Jordan Carlson finished in second place in 8:20.52, while Kelly Lynch finished ninth (8:23.21). Joe Miller was the 11th-place finisher in 8:24.62 and Dan Jackson finished 15th in 8:28.11.
4×800-meter relay: Notre Dame (Labus, Shawel, Rae, Howard) finished first in 7:25.31.
4×400-meter relay: Notre Dame finished in fourth place in 3:13.82.
Triple Jump: Logan Renwick finished in ninth place (14.32m) and Patrick Glass finished 15th (13.28m).
Shot Put: Denes Veres finished in third place (17.33m). Andrew Hills was the seventh-place finisher (16.35m), while John Belcher finished eighth (16.34m) and Anthony Thomas finished 11th (15.11m).
High Jump: Doug Onuscheck was the sixth-place finisher (2.01m).
Men’s Team Results:
1. Connecticut 136.75 points
2. Notre Dame 132 points
3. Villanova 92 points
4. Louisville 87 points
5. South Florida 63.75 points
6. Georgetown 55 points
7. Pittsburgh 47 points
8. Rutgers 45 points
9. Syracuse 44 points
10. Providence 32 points
11. DePaul 29 points
12. Marquette 15.5 points
Women’s Team Results:
1. Louisville 110 points
2. Connecticut 108.5 points
3. Villanova 86 points
4. Georgetown 80 points
5. West Virginia 66 points
6. Cincinnati 58 points
6. South Florida 58 points
8. Notre Dame 56 points
9. Pittsburgh 48 points
10. St. John’s 38 points
11. Syracuse 36 points
12. Providence 19 points
13. DePaul 11 points
14. Marquette 5.5 points
–ND-