May. 1, 2005

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame track and field team wrapped up preparations for next weekend's BIG EAST Outdoor Championships by competing in two meets this past weekend, the Drake Relays at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Hillsdale Gina Relays at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.

The Irish posted several top performances over the span of the weekend, garnering five first-place finishes (all at the Hillsdale meet) and producing 23 season-best performances while qualifying several more athletes for the BIG EAST meet, to be held this Friday through Sunday at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J.

Drake Relays

The Irish sent a contingent of 10 athletes to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays and met with mixed results.

Notre Dame added two new qualifiers for the BIG EAST meet in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase as Jake Watson (7th place, 9:10.44) and Ryan Johnson (11th, 9:14.35) both surpassed the conference's qualifying standard. In the 800, Adam Currie placed eighth in 1:52.36 while Selim Nurudeen was ninth in a special section of the 110-meter hurdles with a solid performance of 13.94. The Irish fielded a foursome of Eric Morrison, Brett Adams, Jake Watson and Todd Ptacek in the men's 4x1,600-meter relay and placed third in 16:44.12.

The women's team was represented at Drake by high jumpers Emily Loomis and Stacey Cowan. While neither matched their season-best performances both had solid outings against a strong field of competitors. Loomis placed sixth with a clearance of 1.70 meters (five feet, seven inches) and Cowan was 11th with a leap of 1.65m (5-5).

Notre Dame's contingent of 49 athletes racked up several impressive performances at Hillsdale, led by victories in five events including two meet records and 21 season-best efforts.

Leading the way were meet records in the women's 1,500 meters and the women's 4x100-meter relays. Kerry Meagher smashed the meet record in the 1,500 with a time of 4:27.01. While well off her 2005 best of 4:22.83 (set recently at the Mt. SAC Relays), Meagher's effort served notice that the veteran is ready to make a strong showing in the event at the BIG EAST meet. Likewise, Notre Dame's outing in the 4x100, in which the Irish crossed the tape at a season-best 46.01 seconds, also sent a message that the Irish could be a factor in the relay at the conference meet.

Notre Dame also picked up victories in the women's 100 (Maryann Erigha in 11.64 seconds), the women's 400 (Okechi Ogbuokiri in 54.74) and the men's javelin (Derek Goguen with a toss of 58.49 meters/191 feet, 11 inches).

The Irish figure to show impressive depth at the BIG EAST meet next weekend after adding to their deep list of qualifiers. Below is a list of athletes who produced conference qualifying marks and/or season-best outings at the Hillsdale Gina Relays.
Athlete	Event	Performance
Maryann Erigha	women's 100	11.64*
Brienne Davis	women's 100	12.01*#
Okechi Ogbuokiri	women's 400	54.74*
Crysta Swayzer	women's 400	56.58*#
Kerry Meagher	women's 1,500	4:27.01*#
Jean Marinangeli	women's 5,000	17:12.73*#
Maggie Nelsen	women's 5,000	17:53.48#
Domenique Manning	women's 100 hurdles	14.38*
Julie Opet	women's 3k steeplechase	11:10.74*#
Elizabeth Phillipp	women's 3k steeplechase	11:23.89*#
Meghan Horn	women's shot put	14.35m*#
Meghan Horn	women's discus	45.64m*#
Amber Jackson	women's discus	39.60m*#
Meghan Horn	women's hammer throw	47.89m*#
Kate Duman	women's javelin	39.76m*
Tommie Lee	men's 100	11.07*#
Ryan Regula	men's 100	11.23#
Ryan Regula	men's 200	23.41#
Tom Longo	men's 5,000	14:37.44*#
Michael Manning	men's 5,000	14:56.32*#
Jose Genao	men's 110 hurdles	14.92 *#
Austin Wechter	men's 400 hurdles	55.01*#
Mike Schubert	men's shot put	14.13m*
Garet Koxlein	men's discus	45.20m*
Chip Roberts	men's discus	44.85m*#
Kyle Annen	men's discus	43.41m*#
Kyle Annen	men's hammer throw	55.94m*#
Chip Roberts	men's hammer throw	54.05m*
Garet Koxlein	men's hammer throw	49.68m*
Kevin Moffitt	men's hammer throw	45.44m*#
Derek Goguen	men's javelin	58.49m*
*indicates BIG EAST qualifying mark
#indicates season-best performance