April 10, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind – Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday, April 10. The women placed second in the four team field with 168.5 points, finishing behind first-place Purdue’s 204 points. Central Michigan was third with 165.5 points, while Wyoming was fourth with 108 points. Freshman Liz Grow was a double winner for the Irish as she blazed to victories in the 200 and 400 meters with times of 25.03 and 55.83 respectively.
The men’s squad found the going a bit tougher as they placed third in the four-team field with 173 points, 33 points behind first-place Central Michigan. Purdue was second with 186 points, while Wyoming was a distant fourth with 98 points. Senior All-American Mike Brown led the Irish as he finished first in the pole vault with a Notre Dame record height of 17-5 1/2.
Including Grow’s two victories, Notre Dame picked up five first-place finishes on the women’s side with junior All-American JoAnna Deeter, junior Alison Klemmer and senior Nadia Schmiedt picking up the other three victories. Deeter ran to an NCAA provisional qualifying and meet record time of 9:35.41 in the 3,000 meters, the second-fastest time in Notre Dame history. Klemmer’s time of 17:03.60 in the 5,000 meters was also a meet record and earned her a spot in the Irish record books as the third-fastest time in Notre Dame history. Schmiedt’s time of 59.74 in the 400-meter hurdles was nearly a second faster than her nearest competitor, and she also placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.50. Notre Dame sophomore Chrissy Kuenster finished second to Deeter with her time of 10:20.52, and junior All-American Jennifer Engelhardt placed second in the high jump with a mark of 5-8 3/4.
On the men’s side, junior All-American Marshaun West earned two first-place finishes for the Irish as he ran to times of 10.68 in the 100 meters and 21.86 in the 200 meters. West’s time in the 100 meters was the 10th-fastest in Notre Dame history. Senior All-American Antonio Arce placed first in the 1,500 meters with his time of 3:54.90, and freshman Luke Watson placed first in the steeplechase with his time of 9:08.14, which was 24 seconds faster than the second-place time. Notre Dame also ran to a first-place time of 41.00 in the 4×100 meter relay, the fourth-fastest time in Notre Dame history. Junior Chris Cochran sprinted to a second-place time of 47.83 in the 400 meters, and junior Phil Mishka placed second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.85.