Senior Michelle Brown

Track And Field Head To California and Ohio For Easter Weekend

March 28, 2013

(Oliver Nikoloff Open)

Live Stats (Stanford Invitational)

Meet Schedule (Stanford Invitational)

Flotrack Video Stream (Stanford Invitational)

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track teams travel to Palo Alto, Calif., to participate in the 29th annual Stanford Invitational while the multi-event athletes travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for the Oliver Nikilof Open this weekend (March 29-30).

Competition will commence at 12 p.m. (ET) both days for the student-athletes competing at the Stanford Invitational. The Oliver Nikilof kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on day one and at 9 a.m. on day two.

For paying members, meet coverage for the Stanford Invitational can be found on flotrack.org.

A total of 100 teams and 3,300 athletes will be represented on the campus of Stanford University.

The Irish enter the weekend after compiling a total of six first-place finishes, five runner-up finishes and 23 top-five finishes at the Victor Lopez Invitational last weekend in Houston, Texas on the campus of Rice University.

Chris Giesting (200m, 4x400m), Jade Barber (100mH, 4x400m) and Megan Yanik (400mH, 4x400m) each collected two first-place finishes.

Yanik was named the BIG EAST Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week March 26 for her efforts.

Mary Esther Gourdin won the triple jump while Brendan Dougherty, Jarrod Buchanon and Patrick Feeney accompanied Giesting to win the 4x400m.

According to the Track & Field Results Reporting System’s NCAA Division l East Outdoor Qualifying List, the Irish currently house 23 roster members in the nation’s top-50 in their respective events.

The men’s and women’s 4x400m teams each hold the No. 1 spot in the country after their performance at the outdoor season opener at the Victor Lopez Invitational. The women’s team comprised of Yanik, Barber, Michelle Brown and Margaret Bamgbose ran a 3:35.06. The men’s team composed of Brendan Dougherty, Giesting, Feeney and Buchanon set the nation’s best time after stopping the clock at 3:07.65.

Yanik (400H-second), J. Barber (100mH-ninth), Dougherty (400m-sixth) and Giesting (200m-seventh) crack the nation’s top-10 in each of their events.

With anticipation for the first weekly rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associations coming out April 2, the Notre Dame women’s team still sit at No. 17 in the national polls after the indoor track season’s recent posting March 5.

Student-Athletes on Stanford Trip (38):

Women Competing (21): Alexa Aragon, Dani Aragon, Margaret Bamgbose, Jade Barber, Kaila Barber, Michelle Brown, Kelly Burke, Madeline Casanova, Amanda Chamblee, Kelly Curran, Mary Esther Gourdin, Sydni Meunier, Emily Morris, Ann Polcari, Meg Ryan, McKinzie Schulz, Molly Seidel, Rebecca Tracy, Aijah Urssery, Jaclyn Winkel, Megan Yanik

Men Competing (17): Jarrod Buchanon, Michael Clevenger, Brendan Dougherty, Aaron Dunn, Jack Favorite, Patrick Feeney, Eric Gebeke, Chris Giesting, Martin Grady, Jake Kildoo, JP Malette, Keith Mesidor, Dominick Padovano, Jeremy Rae, Logan Renwick, Spencer Rheinhardt, Anthony Thomas

Student-Athletes on Cincinnati Trip (5) Ted Glasnow, Dean Odegard, Brent Swanberg, Carly Loeffel, Meghan Moore

Following the weekend action, the Irish head to East Lansing, Mich., to compete in the Michigan State Invitational April 5-6.

–ND–