Feb. 8, 2003
The 2003 Meyo Invitational wrapped up on Saturday afternoon with some memorable performances by several Notre Dame athletes.
It might be difficult to look past Luke Watson’s monumental victory in the Meyo Mile, but Notre Dame’s Selim Nurudeen and Molly Huddle also posted some impressive performances.
Huddle ended up running behind Nike professional Colette Liss in the 3,000 meters and went home with a school-record effort. The Irish freshman finished second behind Liss, but was the first collegiate across the finish line in 9:14.33. That time shatters JoAnna Deeter’s old school record of 9:30.82 and automatically qualifies Huddle for the NCAA indoor meet in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 14 and 15. Lauren King also automatically qualified for the NCAAs in the 3,000 meters with a 9:19.52 fifth-place effort.
Huddle might be joined at the meet by sophomore Selim Nurudeen. Nurudeen came through with his best 60-meter hurdle effort of the season to win the event in 7.83. That time is far under the NCAA provisional qualifying mark and, depending on what happens until the national meet, could put Nurudeen in his first NCAA Championship field.
Nurudeen also advanced to the finals of the 60 meters and finished fifth (6.92).
Other top finishers for the Irish men included Chris Staron in the high jump (third, 2.06m) and Vincent Ambrico in the regular mile run (first, 4:11.16).
The women’s team effort on Saturday was led by Meghan Horn in the shot put (fourth, 13.53m), Emily Loomis in the high jump (t-first, 1.72m), Tricia Floyd and Tameisha King in the 60 meters (fourth and fifth, respectively) and Kymia Love in the 400 meters (first, 54.23). The 4×440-yard relay team of Love, King, Tiffany Gunn and Kristen Dodd finished second in 3:42.77 – one of the fastest relays in the nation this season.
Both teams will make the trip to Windsor, Ontario, for the Windsor Team Challenge next Saturday, Feb. 15. For full results go to www.deltatiming.com and look for the “Meyo Classic” link.