The annual Meyo Invitational will be more than just a track meet this year.
The event will honor former Notre Dame standout Ryan Shay with the first Ryan Shay 3,000-meter run. Shay died on Nov. 3 during U.S. Olympic marathon trials in New York City's Central Park.
The Irish will host the 21st annual Meyo Invitational this weekend. The event will run over the course of two days, the competition beginning at 5 tonight and the second half beginning Saturday morning at 9:30.
This event will be the toughest competition Notre Dame has seen yet, with teams such as Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin and Alabama in the field. Ready to step up to the challenge, however, will be the talented group of runners Irish coach Joe Piane has put together this year.
Senior Kurt Benninger will look to defend his home turf during the annual Meyo Mile. The standout runner posted the provisional mark of 4:02.90 in the mile at the Loftus Center on Jan. 25 at the Notre Dame Invitational. Benninger will look to make strides in the 3,000-meter event as well. He posted a 8:05.22, a 20 second margin, when he last time ran the even at the Blue/Gold Invitational on Dec. 7.
Notre Dame's Hungarian one-two punch of freshman Miklos Szebeny and sophomore Balazs Molnar will look to continue to build on their fantastic start to the year, as both sprinters hold the fastest time on the team in their respective main events, the 200-meter and 400-meter dash.
For the throwers, the duo of senior Mike Schubert will look to perform well in the shot put, and up and coming freshman Greg Davis to shine in the weight throw. Schubert has been a perennial shot put specialist since his freshman year on the team, and Davis looks to carve out a similar path. Both men have qualified for the Big East and are the best on the team in their events. Schubert threw 15.94 meters at last year's Meyo Invitational; he posted a career best of 16.79 meters last weekend at Indianapolis.
