The Meyo Track and the Loftus Sports Center will be home to hundreds of elite student-athletes this weekend.

January 31, 2013

Meyo Invitational This Weekend

Jan. 31, 2013

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams usher in a wave of competitors this Friday and Saturday as it hosts the famous Meyo Invitational inside the Loftus Sport Center.

The invitational, which is entering its 26^th year of existence, welcomes elite teams and competitors from around the country as almost 50 schools expected to be present.A pair of distance events highlights the meet.

The Meyo Mile will be run at 3 p.m. Saturday and boasts elite mile runners from around they country as they look to break the always impressive four-minute mark. In the past five years alone, 11 runners have broken the 4:00 barrier, including Notre Dame’s own Jeremy Rae, who went 3:59.62 in 2011 and 3:59.31 in 2012 on his way to victory both times.

The brainchild of current head coach Joe Piane, the Meyo Mile has been a highlight of the Meyo Invitational since 1988. The race, meet and track are named after Ray Meyo, who donated the money to build the track.

The second elite event is the Ryan Shay men’s 3,000 meter run (4:25 p.m.), which is named after former Irish great Ryan Shay, who passed away in late 2007 while running in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City.

Shay, a 2001 Notre Dame graduate, earned nine All-America citations while wearing the Notre Dame blue and gold, including winning the 2001 NCAA Championship in the 10,000m.

A decorated student-athlete, Shay was also named an Academic All-American in addition to his All-America laurels. Following graduation, Shay won the 2003 USA Marathon.

He still holds the Notre Dame record for the indoor 5,000m with a time of 13:46.80.

Field events are set to begin with the women’s open vault at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The women’s 60-meter hurdle trials will kickoff the running events at 5:00 p.m. Action will continue Saturday starting with the women’s 3,000 meters at 10:00 a.m. and will conclude with the men’s 4x400m relay at 5:05 p.m.

For fans that can’t make the event, live stats will be available. FloTrack will also cover the event, as they are offering a live stream of the entire meet. Fans can purchase the stream for the meet as well as dozens of other meets from around the country for a monthly subscription of $19.99 or a yearly subscription of $150. A link for both will be available on UND.com.

Last weekend at the Indiana Relays Notre Dame claimed six events victories and achieved 35 top-five finishes. The women’s 4×800 relay team of Kelly Curran, Alexa Aragon, Sydni Meunier and Rebecca Tracy set a new Gladstein Fieldhouse track record with a winning time of 8:47.94. The record was previously set in 1988 (8:49.71) by Indiana.

Patrick Feeney leads the men’s squad with seven first-place finishes and Kalia Barber leads the women’s side with six event victories going into the weekend contest.

With the BIG EAST Championships nearing just two weeks away (Feb. 16-17) sixty-one roster members have qualified for the conference showdown through the first four meets. The Irish currently have at least one student-athlete represented in the top five positions on the BIG EAST’s Performance List in 17 events and occupy the top spot in six events.

Following the Meyo Invitational, the Irish head back to Allendale, Mich. to compete in the Grand Valley Big Meet on Feb. 8-9.

National Rankings (Top 25)

6. Patrick Feeney (46.96) – 400m

12. Kaila Barber (6.12m) – Long Jump

17. Kaila Barber (8.32) – 60m Hurdles

19. Kaila Barber, Michelle Brown, Megan Yanik and Margaret Bamgbose (3:40.59) – 4x400m Relay

T-21. Jade Barber (8.37) – 60m Hurdles

BIG EAST Leaders

Michelle Brown – 400m

Chris Giesting – 500m

Kaila Barber – 60m Hurdles

Eddy Gibbons, Eric Gebeke, Steve Blazer and Jack Favorite – 4x800m Relay