Aug. 28, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. —– The University of Notre Dame track & field and cross country programs have signed 19 student-athletes that started their first classes with the Fighting Irish this week.
The Irish added five athletes to their sprint group in Parker English, Payton Miller, Allison Bartoszewicz, Jordan Shead and Eric Ways; nine runners to the distance group in John Flannery, Billy Dolan, Brent Kennedy, Sydney Foreman, Ashlyn Rambo, Alexis Daughtery, Samantha Murray, Jessica Harris and Stephanie Knight; two throwers in Tommy Rhodes and Greg Bombara; and jumpers Hunter Holton and Rachel Rhodes and pole vaulter Jesse Shank.
“In this year’s recruiting class, we were able to strengthen some of our best areas on the women’s side with the addition of several great freshmen in the long sprints and middle distances,” says head coach Alan Turner. “English and Miller will immediately add to our very good 200m and 400m groups, as well as to our sprint relays. Bartoszewicz fills our need in the short sprints. Shead is mix of 400m and 800m. In the middle distances, we are adding four ladies that are at 2:10 or better in the 800m and another at 2:12. Rambo, Daugherty, Murray, Harris and Knight will be big contributors in the 800m and 1500m. We should continue to have a very strong distance medley relay for years to come. With Rhodes, we have addressed the high jump event, and Foreman adds another sold runner to our long distance area.
“On the men’s side, Bombara will fill a void for us in the javelin,” he continues. “In the shot, Rhodes will bolster our throws group. In the sprints, we feel Ways will continue to add depth our successful 400m group and 4×400 relay. In the distance events, Flannery, Doaln and Kennedy should develop into core contributors.”
Women
Parker English
Evanston, Ill. (Evanston Township HS)
Sprints
English is the 2014 Illinois 3A state champion in the 200m and 400m. She was also third in the 100m at the Illinois state championships. Her personal bests in the 200m (23.74) and 400m (53.80) rank No. 17 and No. 13 in the country for 2014. She is a former teammate of current 400m Irish first team All-American Margaret Bamgbose.
Payton Miller
Golden, Co. (Golden HS)
Sprints
Miller finished runner-up in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the 2014 Colorado 4A Championships. Her personal best of 54.86, ranks 53rd in the country. Finished ninth in the New Balance Indoor Nationals 400m in 56.38 for the 24th fastest time in the country. In 2013 she was third in the 400m and placed fifth in the 200m in the Colorado 4A Championships.
Allison Bartoszewicz
Wexford, Pa. (Vincentian Academy, Pittsburgh)
Sprints
Bartoszewicz was the 2014 Pennsylvania Class AA state champion in the 100m and 200m. She has personal bests in the 100m (11.98) and 200m (24.52). Bartoszewicz was a forward on Vincentian’s state championship basketball team in 2014.
Jordan Shead
St. Charles, Ill. (St. Charles East HS)
Sprints
Shead anchored St. Charles East to the Illinois Class 3A 4x800m relay title. She is also a 3 time all-state 400m runner, finishing fourth in 2014, 2013 and seventh as a sophomore in 2012. She has personal bests of 400m (55.37) and 800m (2:14.70).
Sydney Foreman
Charlotte, N.C. (Ardrey Kell HS)
Distance
Foreman has run 10:42 for 3,200 on the track and 17:40 for 16th place in the Footlocker South Regional.
Ashlyn Rambo
Yorba Linda, Calif. (Mater Dei HS)
Distance
Rambo ran 2:08.75 in the 800m and 4:53 in the 1600m this spring. She finished fourth in the 800m at the California State Meet. Her 800m time ranked 23rd in the country.
Alexis Daughtery
Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline HS)
Distance
Daughtery ran 2:09.81 for the 800m this spring. She also placed 4th at the Washington State Meet in the 800m and was on the winning 4×400 team. She ranks 40th in the country.
Samantha Murray
Defiance, Ohio (Defiance HS)
Distance
Murray ran 2:09.25 this spring in the 800m, winning the Division 2 Ohio State Meet, for the 33rd best time in the U.S. She was runner-up in the 800m her junior year at state and runner-up in the 400m her freshman year with a personal best of 56.21.
Jessica Harris
Cockeysville, Md. (Mount de Sales Academy)
Distance
Harris ran 2:10.25 in the 800m this winter, placing fourth at Indoor New Balance Nationals for the No. 5 time in the U.S. indoors. She also ran 1:15.59 for the 500m indoors for the seventh fastest time in the U.S. in 2014.
Stephanie Knight
Maple Plain, Minn. (Orono HS)
Distance
Knight ran 2:12.29 in the 800m this spring. She was the Minnesota AA State meet runner-up in 2014, 2013 and was third her sophomore year.
Rachel Rhodes
Williamsville, Ill. (Williamsville HS)
High Jump
Rachel finished the indoor season with the seventh best high jump in the US. She was all-state in the high jump for the past three years, placing as high as second place.
Men
Eric Ways
Durham, N.C. (Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA)
Sprints
Ways was the 2014 Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) state champion in the indoor 300m (34.91) and 500m (1:04.77) seventh best time in the country. Ways was also the outdoor VISAA state champion in the 200m and 400m. He has a personal best of 47.73 in the outdoor 400m.
Tommy Rhodes
Morristown, N.J. (Delbarton School)
Throws
Rhodes has a personal best of 60’0″ in the shot put and is the Delbarton record holder for the event both indoors and outdoors. He won the Morris County meet and finished 5th at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.
Greg Bombara
Simsbury, Conn. (Simsbury HS)
Throws
Bombara qualified and scored multiple years at the State Meet. He posted a personal best of 184’8″ in the javelin this past season, which earned him the state championship for his class. He went on to finish second in the Open Division.
Hunter Holton
Pataskala, Ohio (Watkins Memorial HS)
High Jump
Holton finished 2nd at the Ohio Indoor State Championship this past season. He was a four-time state meet qualifier for Watkins Memorial HS. He has a personal best of 6’7″.
Jesse Shank
Anaheim, Calif. (Servite HS)
Pole Vault
Shank comes to Notre Dame as one of the top 20 pole vaulters in the state of California. He finished 2nd at the Orange County Track and Field Championships this past season. Shank looks to continue the family tradition at Notre Dame, as his father is an ND graduate. He has a personal best of 15’3″.
John Flannery
New York, N.Y. (Bronxville HS)
Distance
Flannery logged a time of 4:11.35 in the 1600 and finished the summer ranked No. 44 in the event for his senior class.
Billy Dolan
Mullica Hill, N.J. (Clearview Regional HS)
Distance
Dolan ran a time of 4:12.08 in the 1,600, which was the fastest in New Jersey and was fourth at the Meet of Champions in 2014. He also has an 800m personal best of 1:53.43.
Brent Kennedy
New Kensington, Pa. (Kiski Area HS)
Distance
Kennedy was a Foot Locker Cross Country Finalist for the fall of 2012. He was runner-up in the Pennslyvania 3A Cross Country Championships in 2012. 9:13.35 is his 3200m personal best.