Feb. 17, 2005
Syracuse, NY – The Notre Dame track and field teams rolled into town this afternoon, each focused on winning their second BIG EAST title since joining the conference nine years ago. The BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held at the Carrier Dome on the campus of Syracuse University on Saturday and Sunday, February 19 and 20.
The Irish will face some stiff competition from their conference rivals over the weekend. The men’s meet should shape up as a back and forth battle between Notre Dame and Rutgers for the team title. On the women’s side, Pittsburgh is in the midst of an excellent season, particularly in the field events, but could be challenged for the team title by Notre Dame, Georgetown and Villanova.
The Irish left South Bend on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Syracuse on Thursday. After a light workout at the Carrier Dome on Friday, the competition kicks-off early on Saturday morning, with the first event of the meet, the men’s heptathlon starting at 8:30 a.m. Competition will be ongoing all-day Saturday, culminating with the distance medley relays at 5:00 p.m. The athletes will be back at the Carrier Dome at 8:30 a.m. Sunday for the final three events of the heptathlon. Sunday competition will see the finals of most events throughout the day. A complete schedule of events and a set of heat sheets for the BIG EAST Championship is available at www.bigeast.org. Live results from the meet will also be available through the site.
SCOUTING THE IRISH WOMEN
For the women’s team, the clear strength for Notre Dame lies in the sprints. Sprinters Maryann Erigha and Tiffany Gunn are each favored to win a pair of BIG EAST titles. Erigha holds the fastest time in the conference this season in the 60-meter dash (7.47) and in the 200-meter dash (23.85). Erigha’s time in the 200 also makes her the only qualifier from the BIG EAST for the NCAA Championships thus far in the season. Gunn holds conference-best marks in the 400 meters (54.29) and in the 500 meters (1:12.45). Joining Gunn near the front in the long sprints should be Okechi Ogbuokiri, who is seeded third in the 500 meters (1:13.92) and has a seed-time in the 400 meters identical to Gunn. The two should also meet up in the 4×400 relay, where the Irish are favored to capture another individual title. In the distance events, freshman Sunni Olding is entered in the 3,000 meters, where she is one of five athletes who have NCAA qualifying marks.
In the field, the high jump is the strongest event for the Notre Dame women. Stacey Cowan, one of the nation’s best high jumpers, is the favorite. Cowan owns a season best jump of 5′ 11″ and will also be seeking a strong performance in the pentathlon where she is seeded fourth. Cowan will be joined in the high jump by a pair of her teammates who have cleared 5′ 6″ this year. Emily Loomis and Cassie Gullickson will be gunning for top-five finishes in the event this weekend. Petra Dankova will be the top Irish entrant in the triple jump, where she is one of just three jumpers in the conference to best the 40-foot mark this season. Meghan Horn will be trying for a top-five finish in the shot put, she has a season best throw of 45′ 10″ to her credit.
SCOUTING THE IRISH MEN
Notre Dame will be looking for a total team effort this weekend, as the Irish will need strong performances on the track and in the field to claim a team title. The men will be led by defending conference hurdle champion, Selim Nurudeen. Nurudeen could end up running a total of six races this weekend, as he hopes to run in the preliminaries and the finals of the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes as well as the 60-meter hurdles. Nurudeen has far and away the fastest hurdle time in the conference this season of 7.81, which is the tenth fastest time in the nation. Holding the top qualifying time in the 60-meter dash is Dwight Ellick. Just a few hundredths of a second slower this year in the 60 were Ellick’s teammates Terrail Lambert and Nurudeen. Notre Dame’s Austin Wechter (1:03.62 in the 500 meters) and Trevor McClain-Duer (48.19 in the 400 meters) are both looking to post top-three times and claim All-BIG EAST honors in addition to scoring important team points for the Irish.
The Notre Dame men are as strong, if not stronger, in the distance events as in the sprints. Adam Currie and Kurt Benninger are favored to win the 800 meters and the mile respectively. Currie, a freshman will be running in his first BIG EAST Championships. Benninger, who two weeks ago became the third runner in Irish history to run a sub-four-minute mile, has the third fastest mile in the country this year. Benninger is also the number two seed in the 3,000 meters. In the 5,000 meters, the Irish have five entries that are seeded in positions 4 through 8 in the race. Led by NCAA qualifier Tim Moore, Notre Dame will also be represented in the race by Sean O’Donnell, Kaleb VanOrt, Todd Mobley, and Dan Curran. A pair of Irish freshmen will run in the 1,000 meters. Jake Watson and Brett Adams will be chasing top-five finishes in that event.
The Irish are also hoping for important points in the field events. Chris Staron is the top entrant in the high jump, his season-best jump of 6′ 7″ is the third-best in the conference. Notre Dame pole vaulters Dave Viken and Justin Oppel will be seeking top-five finishes. The two sophomores are seeded third and fourth respectively. The lone Notre Dame entry in the horizontal jumps is Christopher Jacques. Jacques is in position to challenge for the BIG EAST title in the long jump, where his season-best leap of 22′ 11″ is second best in the conference. In the throws, three athletes are entered in the weight throw. Chip Roberts (56′ 5″) will be seeking All-BIG EAST honors for the first time in his career, and will be joined in the event by Kyle Annen (53′ 2″) and Garet Koxlein (52′ 11″).
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST
Since joining the conference in 1996, the Notre Dame women have won the BIG EAST Indoor Championship once, in 2002, and have earned runner-up honors each of the last two seasons. Miami was the BIG EAST champion last year, on the strength of a deep sprint group. The Irish women have had 10 individual BIG EAST champions throughout the last decade. The most recent champ was Lauren King, winner of the mile last year. The women’s 4×400 relay team of Tiffany Gunn, Kristen Dodd, Okechi Ogbuokiri and Trichia Floyd were also BIG EAST champions in 2004. Additionally, the Irish coaching staff was named the Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year in 2002.
In their nine-year BIG EAST history, the Notre Dame men have never failed to reach the podium, finishing in the top three every year since joining the conference. The men have one team title, in 2003, and placed second a year ago. The Irish were edged by Connecticut by a mere seven points (160-153) for the team title in 2004. The Irish boast 24 individual BIG EAST champions in the decade. The most recent individual title came in 2004 by Selim Nurudeen in the 60-meter hurdles. The Irish coaches were honored in 2003 as the Outstanding Coaching Staff of the Year.