The Notre Dame track and field team sent competitors to four different gatherings this weekend — the Penn Relays, the Drake Relays, the GVSU Extra Weekend and the Texas Invitational. Record-breaking performances in Iowa headlined a slew of impressive results from Irish student-athletes.
Penn Relays
Notre Dame claimed two individual victories in Philadelphia, producing 10 total top-10 finishes. In the men’s 10,000-meter run, senior Josh Methner took first place with a time of 28 minutes and 43.53 seconds, finishing nine seconds ahead of senior Robert Cozean’s fourth-place and personal-best time of 28:52.66. Another victory emerged in the men’s shot put championship, where graduate student Michael Shoaf executed a 19.36-meter throw.
The women’s shot put college event also featured a strong Irish performer, with graduate student Shiloh Corrales-Nelson finishing third by way of a 14.81-meter throw. Shoaf (57.74m) and junior Matthew Teague (58.44m) also both occupied the top six in the men’s hammer throw college event. The last top-five result came from the men’s 4x1600-meter relay team, which finished in 16:08.65 on strong runs from senior Carter Solomon, sophomore CJ Singleton, graduate student Jake Renfree and sophomore Daelen Ackley.
Drake Relays
In Des Moines, Iowa, Notre Dame’s relay teams broke several records with outstanding performances. The 4x1600m relay team of junior Siona Chisholm, graduate student Claire Sievern, graduate student Andrea Markezich and graduate student Olivia Markezich set a new NCAA collegiate record with a winning time of 18:44.15. History also changed with Notre Dame’s 4x800-meter relay run, as the second-place team of freshman Gretchen Farley, graduate student Kate McAndrew, freshman Kaleigh Gunsiorowski and Sievern broke a school record in 8:32.16.
Finally, the Irish distance medley relay team claimed first by a healthy margin with a time of 10:54.50. The group consisted of Chisolm, McAndrew, Farley and Olivia Markezich.
GVSU Extra Weekend
The Irish also sent competitors to the GVSU Extra Weekend on Thursday in Allendale, Michigan. Junior Kendall Burgess led the collection of nine top-five finishes with a first place women’s long jump of 5.86 meters.
Notre Dame put forth a 2-3 effort in the women’s 400-meter dash, as senior Eve Balseiro’s 56.94-second time made her the runner-up and graduate student Katrina Kamarute slotted in right behind her in 57.25 seconds. Graduate student Shae Douglas found similar success in the women’s 100-meter dash, running in 12.05 seconds for second place while also taking third in the 200m (24.76 seconds).
In the lengthier women’s races, senior Caroline Isemann took fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.49. Juniors Molly Grant (4:25.03) and Paige Grant (4:28.64) both went top-10 in the 1500-meter run, respectively placing fourth and eighth.
On the men’s side, sophomore Sam Rich claimed second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:07.12. Graduate student Rishabh Prakash also performed well in the 1500m, running in 3:46.28 for sixth place. Finally, senior Paul Baynes (10.97) and freshman AJ Jones (10.98) ran within one hundredth of a second of one another to finish fifth and sixth in the 100m respectively.
Texas Invitational
The remaining Irish competitors traveled to Austin, Texas, posting solid results at the Texas Invitational. Notre Dame’s 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Reese Sanders, freshman Jordyn Borsch, sophomore Remy Finn and sophomore Molly Bennett unlocked the team’s top finish, grabbing fourth in 3:51.56. Sanders also took sixth in the 400m hurdles, notching a time of 1:00.27. Meanwhile, Borsch ran the 400m in 55.71, good for ninth place.
Among the men’s competitors, freshman Jack Ahart and graduate student Joey Zayszly set personal records in the 400m and 400m hurdles, respectively. Ahart took seventh with a time of 47.29 seconds, while Zayszly claimed eighth in 53.06.
Moving off the track, senior Madison Schmidt earned herself an eight-place result in the women's high jump with a leap of 1.65 meters.
Up next, the Irish are slated to compete at the Billy Hayes Invite on Friday, May 3. The competition is hosted by Indiana University at a neutral site in Bloomington, Indiana.
