March 26, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame All-American Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) automatically qualified for the 2000 NCAA championships by posting a time of 28:50.73 in the 10,000 meters Sunday at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif.

Four other Notre Dame men's track athletes also posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks last weekend at two different meets. One of the four to provisionally qualify was sophomore Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.), who ran a school-record time of 8:46.98 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Watson's time, which was second-fastest at the Stanford meet, broke the 12-year-old school record of 8:47.32 held by Rick Mulvey.

Also at the Stanford meet, senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) placed 16th in the elite 5,000-meter field with a NCAA provisional time of 14:02.41, while sophomore Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.) finished 38th in the 10,000 with a provisional time of 29:53.49.

Two other Notre Dame track and field members reached provisional marks at the Baldy Castillo Invitational at Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. All-American Phil Mishka (Toledo, Ohio) continued his impressive senior season with a runner-up finish in the 800 meters with a provisional time of 1:48.01, while senior Marshaun West (Sikeston, Mo.) won the long jump with a NCAA provisional leap of 25-1 1/4.

The Notre Dame men's and women's track and field squads play host to their first and only outdoor meet of the year, when Miami University, Butler and Western Michigan travel to Monogram Track on Saturday, April 1.