April 30, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind.– Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s track and field teams competed last weekend at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and at the Boilermaker Open in West Lafayette, Ind., in their final meets before the BIG EAST Championships this weekend. Senior All-American and Irish captain Errol Williams (Lauderhill, Fla.) captured first in the 110-meter hurdles at the prestigious Drake Relays as he ran a time of 13.77, his second-fastest this season and the sixth-best in Notre Dame history. Sophomore JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) ran to an eighth-place finish in the 3,000 meters at Drake, finishing with a time of 10:04.48.

BIG EAST Preview: Notre Dame track and field teams will travel to Villanova, Pa., on May 1-3, to compete in the 1998 BIG EAST outdoor track and field championships. Last year, the men finished with 137 points, good enough for second place behind Georgetown, while the women placed sixth with 58.5 points, finishing behind first place Villanova. Senior Jason Rexing (Pickerington, Ohio), a provisional qualifier in the 10,000 meters, will look to repeat as BIG EAST champion in the 10,000 meters as the top seed in that event. Rexing will also hope to improve on last year’s second-place finish in the 5,000 meters. Junior Mike Brown (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) will try to sweep the pole vault at the BIG EAST championships for the second consecutive year as he won both the indoor and outdoor pole vault competitions in 1997 and again won the indoor competition at this year’s indoor championships. Errol Williams, an automatic qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles and the top seed in that event, will try to improve on his fourth-place finish of a year ago.

Sophomore Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) has provisionally qualified and tops in the BIG EAST in the 10,000 meters as she prepares to run in her first BIG EAST outdoor championships. Junior Nadia Schmiedt (London, Ont.), a second-place finisher in the 400-meter hurdles for two consecutive years, will look to get over the hump this year and bring back a first-place finish. Sophomore Jennifer Engelhardt (Battle Creek, Mich.) will look to improve on her third place finish of a year ago in the high jump.

Drake Relays Recap: The men’s 4 X100-meter relay team of Marshaun West (Sikeston, Mo.), Errol Williams, Kevin Reher (Sarasota, Fla.), and Chris Cochran (Crystal Lake, Ill.) ran to a time of 41.24 in their preliminary heat, good enough for a fourth-place finish but failed to qualify for the finals. Cochran also competed in a special 400 meters and came away with a sixth-place finish with a time of 47.52, his career best.

Jennifer Engelhardt placed tenth in the high jump with a leap of 5-8. Her fellow sophomores Nicole LaSelle (Dayton, Ohio) and Alison Klemmer raced in the 5,000 meters and came away with eighth and eleventh-place finishes respectively. LaSelle ran to a time of 17:17.91, while Klemmer came home in 17:24.62.

Boilermaker Open Recap: On the men’s side, senior Chris Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was a winner for the Irish as he threw a season-best distance of 189-5 in the javelin. Junior Mike Brown placed second in the pole vault with a height of 17-3, tying the Notre Dame record he set last year. Sophomore Matt Thompson (Granite Bay, Calif.) performed well as he finished second in the discus with a distance of 144-9 and third in the shot with a season-best toss of 50-6 1/4.

On the women’s side, senior Janel Kiley (Somerville, Ma.) placed second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:28.8. Freshman Bethany Wilson continued to set school records in the pole vault as she finished third with a height of 10-0. Senior Carrie Gulick placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles as she finished with a time of 1:06.71, and junior Emily Edwards (Nashville, Tenn.) placed fifth in the 800 meters as she ran to a time of 2:20.49.