April 28, 2001

The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams have completed competition in the Purdue Invitational and Drake Relays. A number of Irish athletes posted some impressive finishes over the course of the weekend, highlighted by the women’s sprint group that traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays.

The 4×100 relay team of Kristen Dodd (Toledo, Ohio), Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Texas), Ayesha Boyd (Spartanburg, SC) and Tameisha King (Mableton, Ga.), who set a new school record earlier in the season at 44.74, placed first in the fifth heat in 45.44. The blistering time advanced the team to the finals of the 4×100 relay, where they finished sixth in 45.51.

The sprinters were not done for the weekend, either. The 4×400 relay team of Kymia Love (Memphis, Tenn.), Dodd, Boyd and Grow streaked to a win in 3:37.06 in the third heat – another school record time. That time also is fast enough to put the team in contention for a spot at the NCAA Championship meet in Eugene, Oregon next month.

The 4×400 team moved on to the finals, where they finished fourth in another great time – 3:37.83.

King also competed in the 100-meter hurdles, where she finished fourth in her heat with a personal-best 14.12.

The Purdue Invitational group was led by freshman hurdler Mark Barber (Laingsburg, Ind.), who placed first in the 110-meter hurdles (14.86) and second in the 400-meter hurdles (56.23).

Mike Mansour (Creston, Iowa) and James Bracken (North Andover, Mass.) finished second and third, respectively in the 400 meters with times of 49.19 and 49.36.

Freshman David Alber (Dayton, Ohio) continues to show impressive improvement in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing second at the Purdue meet in 9:35.03.

Other top finishers for the men’s team in West Lafayette, Ind., were Ed Faustin (Manhasset, NY), who took second in the long jump (21-8) and Quill Redwine (San Antonio, Texas) with a second-place finish in the triple jump (47-7).

The highlight for the women’s team at Purdue was the 12-6 pole vault clearance of sophomore Jaime Volkmer (Kearney, Neb.). That mark shatters her own school record of 11-10 and also is an NCAA Championship qualifying mark. Volkmer is the first Irish women’s pole vaulter to clear the 12-0 barrier.

Both teams now have their sights set on the 2001 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, set for this weekend (May 4-6) in Piscataway, NJ.