Another weekend, another great performance for the Irish as the team traveled to East Lansing for the Michigan State Invitational.
Coming off a strong showing at the Stanford Invitational and the Oliver Nikilof Open last weekend, the Irish had high expectations for this meet.
The Irish had 36 athletes finish in the top 10 in their respective events, with half of those placing in the top five. Among the standouts for the men were sophomore and junior middle distance runners Kevin Byrne and Eddy Gibbons and senior thrower Anthony Thomas, who each captured two top-10 finishes.
In the men's 800-meter race, Gibbons, Byrne and sophomore Steve Blazer managed to finish seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, in a field of 56. Gibbons and Byrne joined junior Jack Favorite and freshman Spencer Rheinhardt in the 4x400-meter relay. The fifth-place, 3:25 finish was the best of Rheinhardt's young career.
In addition to great track performances, the Irish men turned in a strong showing on the field. With fourth- and 10th-place finishes in the hammer throw and discus, Thomas led the group of veterans, but senior Ted Glasnow and junior Jordan Stumph were not to be outdone. They turned in top-10 performances of their own in the long jump and hammer throw, respectively.
"All the jumps were inside and I debuted a longer approach, so ended up matching my PR in long jump," Glasnow said.
On the women's side, the Irish celebrated five second-place finishes, led by senior sprinter Nevada Sorensen. Sorensen's time of 13.72 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles was the second-best time in the Big East this year. The senior star also finished eighth in the 100-meter race.
In the hurdles, Sorensen was joined by junior Meghan Moore, who came in sixth, and sophomore Carly Loeffel, who finished 10th.
The women fared well in the 800-meter race just as the men did, with fifth, sixth and seventh-place finishes by sophomores Emily Frydrych and Kaileen Healy and senior Angela Ryck.
"Its too bad [all of the] events were not outside, since the main reason for competing at MSU was to get some practice in the elements before the Decathlons latter in the season," Glasnow said.
Next weekend the Irish will head to Louisville, Kentucky for the Louisville Border Battle.
Contact Cole Schietinger at cschieti@nd.edu
