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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

MEN'S TRACK: Irish head to Williams Invitational

Several members of the Notre Dame men's track and field team will be soaking up the sun this weekend, enjoying a weekend away from South Bend. The team has sent a contingent to Tucson, Ariz. to partake in the Willie Williams Invitational to be held at the Roy P. Drachman Track & Field Stadium on the University of Arizona campus. The meet is the first of the outdoor season.The meet will start today at 3:30 p.m. with the hammer throw. The first event on the track will be the men's 400-meter at 6 p.m. Friday's schedule will close with the men's 5000-meter race which will begin at 9:05.The starting gun for the men's 4x100-relay at 12:30 p.m. will signify the commencing of Saturday's action, which will last until the men's 4x400 relay at 2:30. The meet will not feature team scoring. At Tucson, the Irish competitors will be taking on athletes from the University of Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico State, Washington State and others.Doug Walker, associate director of sports information, believes the meet is a good start to the outdoor campaign. "Most of the people going to this meet are people who didn't get to compete last week [at the NCAA Indoor Championships], so this is a good opportunity for them to work on some things," Walker said.With the Willie Williams Invitational, the Irish kick off an outdoor season that will hopefully take them all the way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Ca., from June 8-11. Along the way the Irish will travel to all parts of the country to compete. The schedule features events in places like Walnut, Calif., Atlanta, Ga. and Piscataway, N.J., the site of the Big East Outdoor Championships March 6-8. This marks the last season for a number of Irish seniors, including Trevor McClain-Duer and Selim Nurudeen.