April 19, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
WHO:
Notre Dame women’s track and field team
WHAT:
2001 Mt. SAC Relays and Indy Invitational
WHERE:
Walnut, Calif. and Indianapolis, Ind.
WHEN:
Friday, April 20 – Sunday, April 22
Irish hope to carry momentum of a solid meet in Missouri into this weekend:
The University of Notre Dame women’s track and field team hopes to build off a solid second place finish in the Tom Botts Invitational last weekend in Columbia, Mo., and prepare for the upcoming BIG EAST Championship meet in Piscataway, NJ, May 4-6, with two meets this weekend.
The team will split up to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., and the Indy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind.. Ayesha Boyd, Dore DeBartolo, Liz Grow, Megan Johnson, Tameisha King and the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams will travel to the Mt. SAC Relays while the rest of the team heads to Indianapolis for the Indy Invitational.
Freshman Kristin Dodd (Toledo, Ohio) continued her impressive outdoor campaign by taking first in the 100- and 200-meter dashes last weekend. Dodd posted times of 12.17 in the 100 and 24.56 in the 200.
Notre Dame’s sprint group has really started to come into its own this season. The 4×100 relay team posted a 44.74 time at the Spring Opener two weeks ago, a possible NCAA Championship qualifying time. The combination of All-American Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Texas), Dodd, Ayesha Boyd (Spartanburg, SC) and Tameisha King (Mableton, Ga.) give the Irish one of the fastest relay teams in the nation.
Senior Carri Lenz (London, Ontario) has two consecutive 400-meter hurdle victories to her credit entering this weekend. She won the Spring Opener in a season-best 1:02.04 and also placed first at in the 400 hurdles at the Tom Botts Invitational last weekend.
King has been improving each week in her respective events and looks to be on pace to repeat her long jump All-American finish from the 2000 outdoor season. Her 14.14 100-meter hurdle time from the ASU Invite (March 31) is one of the top times in the BIG EAST this season. She also ran a solid 12.26 in the 100 meters at last weekend’s Tom Botts Invitational while leaping a season-best 20-3 1/2 in the long jump.
King is not the only multi-dimensional standout the Irish women’s team has on the roster. Sophomore Jaime Volkmer (Kearney, Neb.), who has been one of the top performers on the team since she arrived on campus, might have enjoyed the best meet of her career so far at the Tom Botts Invite last weekend. She won the pole vault by clearing a school-record 11-10 and also won the triple jump with a leap of 38-11 1/2. Volkmer also placed fourth in the long jump (18-3 3/4) and has qualified for the BIG EAST meet in all three events.
The Irish distance runners have continued to improve this season as well. Sophomore Jen Handley (Barrie, Ont.) has the top times in the 3,000 and 5,000 this season while also running a personal-best time in the 1,500 last weekend. Freshman Megan Johnson (Seattle, Wa.) ran a personal best in the 1,500 at the Tom Botts Invite and stepped down to the 800 meters and turned in a team-best 2:12.35.
Sophomore Jennifer Fibuch (Leawood, Kan.) has been performing well in the distance lane lately. She posted a personal-best 17:31.67 in the 5,000 meters last weekend, good enough to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship race.
The throws group has been bolstered by the return of Dore DeBartolo (Aurora, Ill.). DeBartolo has the top marks in the hammer, discus and shot put in the outdoor season and claimed first place in both the shot put and hammer last weekend. Her 47-5 3/4 measurement at the Tom Botts Invite is a new personal best.
Results from the Mt. SAC Relays are available at http://ibm.mtsac.edu and also on the official Notre Dame athletics website: www. und.com.