Notre Dame posted a total of six victories and 35 top-five finishers at this weekend's Indiana Relays, held at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
The women's 4x800-meter relay team of junior Kelly Curran and Alexa Aragon, freshman SydniMeunier and senior Rebecca Tracy led the way for the Irish, winning its race with a time of 8:47.94. The mark broke a GladsteinFieldhouse record that had stood since 1988.
The main goals for the Irish were to continue to set a standard for Big East and Nationals competition and ensure more runners could qualify for these competitions.
"Most of the runners who qualified [for the Big East] last week didn't run this week so they could stay on campus and go through strenuous training," freshman distance runner Josh O'Brien said. "Our goal is to peak at the Big East and at the indoor nationals tournament."
The difficulty of travelling to another part of the state can throw runners off sometimes, but the Irish were successful in adjusting to the away meet.
"A four- or five-hour drive can sometimes take the spring out of your legs," O'Brien said. "At the same time, when you travel there is a lot of excitement around the meet."
Sophomore twin sprinters Jade Barber and Kaila Barber also claimed victories at the relays, with Jade winning the 60-meter hurdles event and Kaila placing first in the 200-meter event. Elsewhere, junior sprinter Patrick Feeney won the 400-meter event, which marked his fourth consecutive meet with at least one first-place finish.
Overall, the meet was a success in preparation for Notre Dame's biggest home meet of the season, the Meyo Invitational, which will be held this upcoming weekend
"Meyo is a huge meet for us next week," O'Brien said. "It is very well known, and historically individual standouts have come in to participate. The Meyo Invitational begins 4 p.m. Friday at Loftus Sports Center.
Contact Rich Hidy at rhidy@nd.edu
