Although Notre Dame didn't take its entire team to the Indiana Relays this weekend, the athletes that did travel performed well.
"[We] had some good things happen, but we didn't bring everyone down," Irish coach Joe Piane said. "We took primarily sprinters and field events kids. We had the distance resting for the upcoming meet this weekend, the Meyo Invitational".
Sophomore Greg Kiley was the exception, running a 4:13 in the mile and qualifying for the Big East Conference Meet.
Piane was pleased with the performance of his throwers. Three shotput throwers made it to the finals.
Freshman Denes Veres has led the Irish throwers with top marks in the weight throw and shot put respectively. Veres has started off his collegiate career strong, finishing in the top 10 at every meet so far. A multiple letter winner in track in high school, Veres attracted Notre Dame's attention when he became an all-state shot putter and set the county record mark of 60 feet, 10 inches.
The middle distance runners also put in big finishes over the weekend. Junior Billy Buzaid earned a sixth-place finish in the 800 meters. Although he ran the 500 meters in his freshman and sophomore seasons, Buzaid transitioned to the 800 in last year's outdoor season.
This indoor season, he's already qualified for the Big East tournament for the 500 and 800 meters
Sophomore Cameron Eckert came in fourth in the 600 meter run, following up his stellar performance from the Notre Dame Invitational where he ran a Big East qualifying time for the 800 meters. Eckert also qualified for the Big East meet with his time of 2:29.83 in the 1,000 meter run.
There are two more opportunities to qualify for the Big East championships: the Meyo Invitational Feb. 8-9 and the Windsor Team Challenge in Ontario, Canada on Feb. 16.
