With the Big East championship less than a month away, the Irish track and field squad travels to Indiana this weekend for its biggest invitational of the year to date.
With over 30 schools competing, including Alabama, Xavier and Vanderbilt, the Indiana Relays in Bloomington, Ind., will provide the Irish with high quality competition from all over the country.
After a few early season meets, the Irish are now entering the midseason of indoor track, and will look to use the meet as a chance to grow in confidence and post-Big East qualifying marks. Junior captain and jumper Logan Renwick expects the team will do both.
"Everyone is looking forward to a solid performance so we can go forward and peak at the Big East [championship]," Renwick said. "For the jumpers, we're looking for anyone who hasn't qualified for the championship yet to do so."
The Irish boast impressive depth in the distance and middle-distance events, entering five runners in the invitational 3000-meter, two men and three women. On the men's side, senior Jeff MacMillan will look to improve upon his second place finish in the same event last year, and freshman Michael Clevenger will join him in the event. For the women, junior Meg Ryan also returns after placing fourth in the same event last year, and will lead fellow juniors McKinzie Schulz and Kelly Curran. In the invitational mile, the Irish women have entered senior Rebecca Tracy, junior Alexa Aragon and freshman SydniMeunier.
For the men, sophomore Chris Giesting will compete in the 800-meter after just being named the Big East Men's Track athlete of the week for his performance at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Overall, Renwick believes the team needs to take the opportunity to gain some valuable experience.
"We have a relatively young group, so we need to develop some confidence," Renwick said. "It's all about putting trust in our training."
The Indiana Relays take place this Friday and Saturday in Bloomington. The Irish will next compete at the Meyo Invitational in the Loftus Center on Feb. 1.
Contact Greg Hadley at ghadley@nd.edu
