Senior Billy Buzaid followed freshmen Jordan Rincon in taking the top two spots in the men's 600 at the Indiana Opener in Bloomington, Ind. Saturday.
The meet at Indiana University was the team's first since the Blue-Gold Meet before Christmas Break, and only its second meet overall
Rincon's time of 1:20.46 bested Buzaid by only 0.4 seconds.
In the women's 600-meter dash, sophomores Kelly Langhans and Natalie Johnson also finished first and second, running times of 1:33.47 and 1:34.65, respectively.
Most of the team was allowed to enjoy the extent of their holiday break, and thus less than 25 athletes competed Saturday, yet the list of positive starts to the season continues. Senior Anna Weber qualified for the NCAA Championships in the women's weight throw with a throw of 19.18 meters, finishing only a half meter out of first and earning second. Weber also placed seventh in the shot put at 14 meters.
Sophomore Justin Schneider took fourth in the men's 800 with a time of 1:56.81. Coach Joe Paine described Schneider's performance as "pretty good, since he's a decathlete."
Junior Eric Quick placed second in the long jump by leaping 7.13 meters, or over 23 feet.
"Eric Quick had an exceptionally good opening performance," Coach Paine said.
Senior Mary Saxer won the women's pole vault with a height of 4.00 meters. Junior Joanna Schultz came in third in the women's 200 meters with a time of 25.10, and Schultz took fifth in the 400 meters by posting a time of 56.29 seconds.
Finishing fourth in the women's 800-meter run was junior Elizabeth Myers at 2:15.76, and freshmen Maddie Buttinger finished fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.70 meters.
The men's team received fourth-place finishes from junior pole vaulter Matt Schipper as he cleared 4.90 meters, and sophomore shot putter Denes Veres took fourth with a 16.58 meter toss.
The solid start to the season left Paine looking to the future.
"Where we really want to run well is the Big East meet," Paine said. "This was just one small step to getting the ream ready for the Big East."
On Friday, the Irish return to the Loftus Center to host the Notre Dame Indoor Opener, and next week host a quad meet with Marquette, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
