The Notre Dame men's track team capped off a great indoor season last weekend, as five Irish athletes earned All-American status at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Championships were held in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the University of Arkansas.
Decorated senior Irish hurdler Selim Nurudeen collected his first-ever All-American honor Friday, posting a time of 7.78 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. That time was good enough for sixth overall.
In his third trip to an NCAA championship event, Nurudeen was able to cap a great senior indoor season that has seen him also take home the Big East Championship. Aside from competing in the 60-meter hurdles, Nurudeen also ran in the 200-meter dash, but did not advance to the finals after clocking in at a time of 21.91.
Sophomore Kurt Benninger continued his amazing indoor season by garnering two All-American honors. After winning his preliminary heat, Benninger posted a time of 4:02.24 in the one-mile final, earning fourth place overall and All-American status. This was his second trip to an NCAA meet.
"Yesterday I just wanted to go out and race as best as I could to make it to the finals [for the mile run]," Benninger said on Saturday. "[I also] wanted to do whatever I could to get the job done in the distance medley relay."
Benninger led the men's distance medley relay team, which also consisted of seniors Eric Morrison, Trevor McClain-Duer and freshman Adam Currie, to a sixth-place finish with an overall time of 9:36.67. The finish was good enough to earn All-American honors for the team, the first such honor for each runner.
However, it was the hometown Ar-kansas Razorbacks squad who took home the overall championship, winning their 40th national championship and 18th in the Indoors. The Razorbacks finished with an overall score of 56 points, with Florida (46) and Wisconsin (43) finishing in second and third, respectively.
