The Irish women came out on top Saturday at the first scored meet of the season, the Notre Dame Invitational. Notre Dame's women won the meet with a score of 126.5 points, followed by Louisville with 108 and Michigan State in third with 102.5 points.
The men's squad finished second with 113.5 points behind Michigan State, who scored 126. Louisville followed the Irish in third place with 100.5 points.
A major highlight of the meet for the women was senior Joanna Schultz's NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the 400-meter race with a time of 53:82. This was the second provisional NCAA mark set by Notre Dame this season.
Other highlights included the continuing dominance of Irish vaulters. Sophomore Kevin Schipper and his senior brother Matt finished first and second, respectively. The brothers put forth Big East qualifying marks at last week's meet and continue to dominate the competition.
The Irish took top honors in a number of other events. Junior Denes Veres finished first in the shot put with a throw of 17 meters and senior Samantha Williams out-sprinted the competition in the 500-meter race with a time of 1:14:94. Freshman standout Nevada Sorenson produced a first-place finish, accompanied by a Big East qualifying time of 8.56, in the 60-meter hurdles.
Irish coach Joe Piane had previously identified winning the Big East as an immediate goal for the team, and both the men and women's squads outlasted their sole Big East opponent, Louisville, in this weekend's meet.
The Irish will travel to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend for the Indiana Invitational.
