March 7, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Ten student-athletes will represent the University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville Ark., this weekend. Randal Tyson Track Center (University of Arkansas) will serve as the host venue for the two-day meet that runs Friday and Saturday.
Patrick Feeney (400m), Chris Giesting (400m), Rebecca Tracy (Mile) and Jade Barber (60mH) step onto the track for the Irish in the individual events Friday night. Prelims for all four will be on night one, with finals slated for Saturday evening.
Tracy will kick off the championships with the mile at 6:30 p.m. (ET), followed by Barber in the 60m hurdles at 7 p.m. Feeney and Giesting will run at 7:40 p.m., while the women’s DMR will compete at 9:45 p.m.
Feeney and Giesting both return to the championship for the second time in their career. Feeney was a member of the 2011 distance medley relay team that earned All-America honors and Giesting was a member of the 2012 national champion distance medley team. The winning time was set in Nampa, Idaho after the foursome of Johnathan Shawel, Giesting, Randall Babb and Jeremy Rae stopped the clock at 9:35.48.
Kelly Curran, Michelle Brown, Alexa Aragon and Danielle Aragon will compete in the distance medley relay.
Barber and Brown will double in the 4x400m relay and are joined by Margaret Bamgbose and Megan Yanik.
The 4x400m relay will participate in the finals Saturday at 8:05 p.m. (ET).
Live viewing for both days is available via ESPN3. A full recap with final results will be posted each day at UND.com.
The top eight competitors in each event earn the right to be call an All-American.
Barber enters the weekend ranked fourth in the country in her event according to the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS). The DMR team ranks fifth. Giesting and Tracy are both ranked sixth in their respective events. Feeney cracks the top-10 in the 400m as he finished the season at No. 9 on the list. The 4×400 relay rounds out the rankings for the Irish as the 13th best team in the nation.
Six student-athletes qualified for the Irish last season, with all six earning All-America accolades. Pentathlete Maddie Buttinger joined the men’s DMR team and pole vaulter Kevin Schipper the day prior as an All-American, finishing third with a total of 4,269 points. The point total also set a school record that still stands today.
Schipper placed fourth in the pole vault with a personal-best vault of 5.45m (17-10.5 ft).
Nearly every Notre Dame qualifying time was recorded last weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational inside the Loftus Sports Center. Feeney, who did not run last weekend, punched his ticket to the NCAA Championship at the conference meet and set a school record with a time of 46.12. Giesting’s qualifying time of 46.05 overtook Feeney’s time and currently holds as the school record in the 400m.
Rebecca Tracy left nothing on the table as she claimed the school, track and meet record at the Alex Wilson’s last chance meet with a winning time in the mile of 4:33.53. Barber, the USTFCCCA’s Great Lakes Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, improved from an 8.29 in the preliminary heat to finish with an 8.13 to hold her spot in the NCAA Championship meet. Barber’s time additionally broke the school and meet record. The 4×400 meter relay team also set a school record last weekend with a time of 3:34.67 to finish fourth. The distance medley relay team finished second with a qualifying time of 10:59.08.
Following the NCAA Indoor National Championships the Irish will travel to Houston, Texas to open up the outdoor season at the Victor Lopez Invitational March 22-23.
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