The Irish displayed their supremacy among conference competition when they competed at the Big East Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, over the weekend.
The Irish women's team took the title home to South Bend, winning its third conference championship in Notre Dame school history, while the men's squad finished in second place behind Connecticut.
"This weekend was an incredible experience for everyone involved," freshman middle distance runner Eric Gebeke said. "We had a ton of outstanding performances against some very impressive competition."
The women's team, which defeated second-place Connecticut by over 30 points, totaled 141 points over the two days of competition.
Sophomore sprinter Jade Barber was named the co-Women's Most Outstanding Track Performer of the meet after winning the 60-meter hurdles and running the first leg for the victorious 4x400-meter relay team. Barber also placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.04.
Junior sprinter Michelle Brown finished first in the 400-meter event with a time of 53.30, good enough for the 11th-fastest time in the nation. Senior middle distance runner Rebecca Tracy ran the fastest mile out of conference competitors, recording a time of 4:40.72.
The Irish did not defend their men's title, but they compiled 105.5 points overall and finished in the top three of the conference for the 18th-straight time.
Senior multi-event athlete Ted Glasnow won the heptathlon with a total of 5,493 points. Junior sprinter Patrick Feeney won his third consecutive 400-meter race at the championships and junior DJ Thornton earned honors in the Big East with a standout time of 4:09.58 in the mile.
"We were missing some of our best distance members due to injury this weekend, but we look forward to Big East Outdoors and beating Connecticut in the near-future," Gebeke said.
Notre Dame will continue its bid for NCAA Championship success at Loftus Sports Center in the Alex Wilson Invitational on Mar. 1.
Contact Rich Hidy at rhidy@nd.edu
