March 28, 2002
2002 Purdue Invitational
West Lafayette, Ind.
Friday, March 29- Saturday, March 30
2002 Florida Relays
Gainesville, Fla.
Saturday, March 30
2002 Stanford Invitational
Palo Alto, Calif.
Friday, March 29 – Saturday, March 30
2002 outdoor season begins in earnest this weekend:
The 2002 outdoor season will begin in full force this weekend for the University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field teams. The Irish will split in three directions this weekend, sending groups of athletes to the Purdue Invitational, Florida Relays and Stanford Invitational this weekend.
A majority of the Irish roster will make the trip to West Lafayette, Ind., for the 2002 Purdue Invitational. Most of the Notre Dame competitors in the meet will be outside for the first time this season and hope to begin their outdoor campaigns with some solid performances.
Notre Dame’s top distance runners head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the traditional Stanford Invitational. This early-season distance meet has been the scene for many of the Irish top distance times over the last few seasons. The women’s team will be represented by Jennifer Fibuch, Jennifer Handley, Megan Johnson and Lauren King. The men’s team will send David Alber, John Keane, Todd Mobley, Ryan Shay and Luke Watson.
The talented Irish women’s sprint corps will make the trip to Gainesville, Fla., for the Florida Relays this weekend. Ayesha Boyd, Kristen Dodd, Liz Grow, Tameisha King and Kymia Love will run both relays (4×100, 4×400) this weekend, as well as hoping to improve their impressive first-weekend times from the Baldy Castillo Invitational last weekend (see recap that follows). Teammate Betsy Lazzeri is already down in Gainesville competing in the heptathlon.
Results from the Florida Relays and Purdue Invitational will be available on Saturday evening (www.und.com). Due to the time difference between Notre Dame and Stanford, the Stanford Invitational results will be available on Sunday, March 31.
Baldy Castillo Invitational recap:
Many top Irish competitors traveled to the Baldy Castillo Invitational at Arizona State on March 22 and 23. The Notre Dame group ended up coming away with 14 top-five finishes in the meet and 20 BIG EAST outdoor championship qualifying times and marks.
Sophomore sprinter Ayesha Boyd proved to on top of her game once again tat the meet as she earned two top-three finishes. Finishing second in the 200 meters in 23.60 gave Boyd an NCAA consideration time, and her third place time of 11.76 in the 100 meters will put her in the BIG EAST Championship field. Teammate Kristen Dodd wasn’t far behind in the 200 meters, finishing fourth with a BIG EAST qualifying time of 24.45. Dodd also placed eighth in the 400 meters with another BIG EAST qualifying time of 55.38. Senior indoor All-American Liz Grow took second in that race with an NCAA consideration time of 53.61 that put her on course for another appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this season.
The hurdling duo of Tameisha King and freshman Tiffany Gunn had strong showing at the competition as well. King took third in the 100-meter high hurdles (14.15), with Gunn in eighth place at 15.12. Gunn continued her inaugural year with a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles.
The Irish women had another tough duo to beat at Arizona, as Jill Van Weelden and Jamie Volkmer tied for fifth in the pole vault, both clearing 3.35 meters. Volkmer also claimed third place in the triple jump with a solid measurement of 11.94 meters.
Pat Conway led the Irish men’s distance runners in the 1500 meters, as the senior took fifth in 3:51.11. Teammate Kevin Somok followed close behind, placing seventh in 3:51.90. Both Conway and Somok qualified for the BIG EAST Championship with their efforts.
Freshman Dwight Ellick ended his competition on a high note, following an eighth place finish in the 100 meters (10.83) with a second place effort in the 200 meters. Ellick was barely edged out of first by Arizona State’s Pete Lopez, whose 21.54 time was just ahead of Ellick’s 21.57.
Selim Nurudeen continued his successful freshman season with two strong showings in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. He finished with fourth place in the 110 hurdles (14.50) and fifth in the 400 hurdles (53.51).
Senior Derek Dyer claimed fifth in the shot put with a new personal-best toss (16.45m), while also taking sixth in the discus throw (47.80m). Junior Mike Madigan placed 12th in the javelin throw (56.25 m), and junior Tom Gilbert placed eighth in the long jump with a score of 7.09 meters. Rounding out the men’s results was a seventh place finish for the 4×100 meter relay team at 41.31.