Irish head to Stanford

With just less than two weeks until the ACC outdoor championships, Notre Dame heads west for the Stanford Invitational this weekend to race against elite competition from across the country.

The meet is an opportunity not only to run in warm weather, but also to tune up for conference championships and potentially qualify athletes for NCAA regionals in late May. Highlighting the field is Texas A&M, which is ranked No. 1 and No. 3 among women’s and men’s teams, respectively.

Irish coach Joe Piane said the competition would provide a great test for his athletes as the outdoor season hits full swing. “It’s a very good field at Stanford,” Piane said. “Very strong in distance, strong in sprints, strong field all around. It is a great opportunity for us.”

The Irish are coming off a successful weekend in Texas in which the team split between the Texas Relays in Austin and the Victor Lopez Classic in Houston. Among the 19 athletes at the Texas Realys was senior Ted Glasnow, whose seventh-place finish in the decathlon was highlighted by top-three finishes in the pole vault, shot put and discus. His raw score of 7,299 was good enough to qualify him for the national championship meet.

Other top performers included the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay teams, which will run again this weekend at Stanford. The women’s relay, run by juniors Jade Barber and Amber Lalla as well as senior Michelle Brown and sophomore Margaret Bamgbose, finished 2nd overall with a time of 3:35.91. The men’s relay, named All-Americans for their performance at the indoor national championships in March, finished 4th with their time of 3:08.60. Freshman Harvey Smith, junior Patrick Feeney and seniors Chris Giesting and Jarrod Buchanon ran for the Irish.

At the Victor Lopez Classic in Houston, the Irish notched a number of top finishes. Sophomore Michelle Rotondo won the 400-meter hurdles for the women at 1:00.75 and freshman Connor Stapleton finished first for the men at 53.64, followed closely by sophomore Aaron Dunn at 54.04. Other top performers included senior Amanda Chamblee, whose throw of 40.49 meters was second in the women’s javelin, and junior Carson Barnes, whose 7.17-meter leap was third in the men’s long jump.

Piane said the Irish would try to take the momentum from Texas and keep it going moving forward.

“It’s really about qualifying for conference and national championships,” Piane said.

The Stanford Invitational starts today at 9 a.m. and runs through Saturday afternoon.