March 2, 2002
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s track and field team concluded competition in the 2002 Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday in the Loftus Sports Center. The meet, which does not feature team scoring, featured athletes representing 77 schools from across the country as well as many accomplished non-collegiate competitors.
The women’s portion of the meet was highlighted by the women’s mile relay team and senior Liz Grow in the 400-meter dash. The relay team, consisting of Grow as well as sophomore Ayesha Boyd, sophomore Kristen Dodd, and junior Kymia Love, posted a time of 3:36.84. Their time bested their own school record by more than a second and a half. The time also was good enough to automatically qualify them for the NCAA Championship meet and it improved their national standing as one of the top five relay teams in the nation. Grow was part of another school record in the open 400 meter race, where her time of 53.1 seconds bested her own school record, won the meet, automatically qualified her for the NCAA Championships, and improved her national ranking to seventh.
Jennifer Kearney posted the only other event win of the day, taking top honors in the high jump by attaining a height of 1.66 meters (5′ 5.25″).
Other highlights for the Irish women on Saturday: Sophomore Ayesha Boyd took second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.02 seconds. Boyd had previously provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. Freshman Lauren King finished second in her one-mile race with a time of 4:49.6. King also had already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. Betsy Lazzeri took third place in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.61 meters (5′ 3.25″).
Saturday’s winners joined the winners from Friday night: Junior Tameisha King in the long jump (6.19 meters, 20′ 3.75″) and the women’s distance medley relay team (11:26.92). The distance medley relay team set a new school record and secured a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Championships.
The Alex Wilson Invitational was the last regular-season indoor meet for Notre Dame and was one of the best ‘last chance meets’ in the nation, as teams and individual runners from around the country took one last shot at making the field at the NCAA Championships, to be held next weekend (March 8 & 9) in Fayetteville, Ark. Automatic qualifiers are assured of a spot in the meet, and a meet committee will decide which provisional qualifiers will compete. A complete listing of the competitors who have qualified for the NCAA Championship meet both automatically and provisionally, as well as their best times, is available through www.ncaachampionships.com.