May 23, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In their final tune-up before the 2000 NCAA Track and Field Championships, Notre Dame sophomores Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) and Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Texas) both set school records last week at two different meets. Watson improved his school record time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Grow broke a three-year-old record in the 400 meters.
Watson placed first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Gatorade Twilight Meet in Knoxville, Tenn., on May 18. The indoor track All-American finished the race with an NCAA provisional time of 8:46.77, improving his school record time of 8:46.98, which he ran earlier this season at the Stanford Invitational (March 26). Watson’s time at Stanford had broken a 12-year-old school-record time of 8:47.32 by Rick Mulvey in 1988.
Grow placed fifth overall in the 400 meters with a time of 53.10 Saturday at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Grow’s NCAA provisional time beat the school-record of 53.24 set by Alison Howard in 1997. It also was faster than her previous personal best time of 53.35, which she ran at Pomona College in mid-April.
Other Notre Dame track and field members participating last season included junior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.), who won the 5,000 meters at Tennessee (14:08.02), freshman Tameisha King (Mableton, Ga.), who placed third in the long jump at Georgia Tech (20-10), and sophomore Dore DeBartolo (Aurora, Ill.), who took fourth in the hammer throw (170-1) and 14th in the discus (144-10).
The Irish will find out this Thursday, May 25, who will qualify for this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, slated for May 31 – June 3 in Durham, N.C. at Duke University.