Track and Field
Irish improve for strong showing at Lenny Lyles Invitational
Emily DeFazio | Tuesday, February 1, 2022
The Notre Dame track and field team continued their indoor success while competing at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational on Saturday. Several athletes were coming off first place finishes the weekend prior, both in the field and on the track, making the competition in Louisville, Kentucky, a chance for the team to progress even further during their season.
The Irish were ready to compete come Saturday morning in Kentucky. Graduate student Rachel Tanczos took home a Trager Center facility record with her first place finish in the women’s shot put, throwing 15.91m. She improved from her 14.88m mark at the Notre Dame Invitational last weekend. Tanczos proceeded to place second in the weight toss (21.66m) while sophomore Michael Shoaf also saw success in the men’s weight throw and shot put, taking first (19.92m) and third (18.34m) respectively in the events.
Other key performances in the field included the women’s high jump. Freshman Madison Schmidt took seventh with a jump of 1.69m. Sophomore Sarah Flight and freshman Jadin O’Brien tied for tenth (1.64m), causing three Irish competitors to make the top 10 in the event.
In the men’s 400m dash, graduate student Theo Chambers ran a time of 48.48, putting him in fourth place. Fellow teammate graduate student Max Frye came in right behind at fifth (48.74). Both runners improved on their times from the weekend prior.
Graduate student Kaitlin Ryan notched a second place finish in the open 800m run, taking silver with a time of 2:09:07. She shaved a second off of her second-place time from the Notre Dame Invitational (2:10.19). Sophomore Megan Hughes and freshman Molly Grant placed eighth (2:13.84) and ninth (2:14.43) respectively, making it another event in which the Irish saturated the top 10. Other standout performances came when freshman Eve Balseiro placed 12th in the 400m dash (57:06) and freshman Alaina Brady took seventh in the finals of the women’s 60m hurdles (8.74). To end the night, the women’s 4×400 team consisting of Hughes, Ryan, Schmidt and Balseiro came in seventh, clocking 3:50.69.
Off the track, graduate student Yared Nuguse was named ACC Indoor Track and Field Performer of the Week leading up to the team’s competition in Kentucky. This was following his sub-four minute mile in South Bend (3:54.46), which makes him second in the nation in the event.
The Irish will seek to improve upon this success when they return to South Bend for the Meyo Invitational this weekend.
