Notre Dame athletes competed against the strongest competition the conference had to offer at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Clemson, South Carolina on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Irish had a successful meet, marked by multiple strong individual performances in various events. As a team, the Irish women placed tenth, scoring 31 points over the course of the weekend. Notre Dame’s men’s squad finished ninth overall, netting 35 total points.
The distance medley relay was the headline event of Thursday’s action. Both the Irish men’s and women’s squads fielded a team that was in contention for NCAA championship qualification.
The men’s distance medley relay team, composed of graduate student Jake Dumford, junior Edward Cheatham, sophomore Clay Goldman and freshman Yared Nuguse ran their way to second place overall, finishing in 9:40.14. Currently, the Irish men are ranked eighth in the country in this event.
The Irish women’s distance medley relay team earned a personal best and managed to finish third overall at the meet with a time of 11:02.01. The team was made up of junior Kelly Hart and seniors Payton Miller, Samantha Murray and Jessica Harris.
The Irish sent seven runners to the finals Saturday. Harris finished first in the mile with a time of 4:38.58, winning an ACC title in the event for the second time in as many years. Hart won fifth place in the 800m and was named Second Team All-ACC after crossing the line in 2:06.49. Sophomore hurdler Summer Thorpe found success in the finals of the 60m hurdles, earning fourth place overall and second team All-ACC with a time of 8.314 seconds.
On the men’s side, sophomore sprinter Troy Pride Jr. earned sixth place overall in the 60m dash with a time of 6.78 seconds, earning second team All-ACC honors in the process. In the mile, Dumford (4:04.47) and Nuguse (4:05.29) performed well, earning third and fifth place, respectively. Dumford won the bronze medal in the event, and Nuguse was named second team All-ACC.
The Irish women added impressive performances in the field. In the shot put, graduate student Indi Jackson placed seventh and threw for 14.93 meters. Sophomore Abby Kapitan earned ninth place with 14.16 meters, and freshman Rachel Tanczos finished tenth overall with a distance of 13.96 meters.
The Irish men found marked success on the infield as well. Junior high jumper Matthew Birzer earned second place overall in his event, clearing the bar at a height of 2.18 meters. Sophomore thrower Logan Kusky finished fourth overall in the weight throw with a distance of 20.11 meters. His teammate, fellow sophomore thrower Shae Watkins, finished eighth in the shot put with a distance of 16.09 meters.
On the weekend of March 9, the Irish will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas. It will be Notre Dame’s final meet of the indoor track and field season.
