In Notre Dame's first outdoor competition of the season, the Irish participated in the Stanford Invitational, Alabama Relays and Arizona State Invitational over the weekend and had solid performances at each competition.
The Irish only sent the women's and men's 800-meter runners to the Stanford Invitational. The team's trip west to Palo Alto, Calif. was highlighted by senior Jack Howard's second-place finish in the first section with a time of 1:51.22 and Rebecca Tracy's second-place finish in the women's fourth section with a time of 2:09.32.
Senior Kevin Labus, who finished with a time of 1:51.60 and earned him a second-place finish in the third section of the 800-meter at the Stanford Invitational, said he sees good things ahead for the team's outdoor season.
"I was happy with my race," Labus said. "While fast times were not particularly important for this meet, I thought we competed very well against some great competition. We should shape up to have a good season."
Notre Dame only sent multi-event athletes to the Alabama Relays. If their weekend performance in Tuscaloosa, Ala. was a forerunner for the outdoor season, then the Irish are in for a successful season from their multi-event athletes.
Senior Justin Schneider finished in second place in the men's decathlon with a total of 6,909 points. Junior Maddie Buttinger held her own and tallied 3,035 points in the heptathlon, which earned her a third place finish. Buttinger finished 303 points behind eventual winner Kaylon Eppinger of Alabama.
The Irish sprinters, throwers and jumpers competed at the Arizona State Invitational where their trip was highlighted by senior Denes Veres' performance in the shot put. Veres came in first place with a 17.50-meter throw.
Senior Rudy Atang came in third place in the women's shot put with a throw of 15.69 meters.
Other notable performances in Tempe, Ariz. were junior Doug Onuscheck's fourth-place finish in the high jump with a 2.05 meter jump, senior Jasmine Williams' fifth-place finish in the women's triple jump with a leap of 11.43 meters and freshman Michelle Brown's seventh-place finish in the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 24.89.
