May 29, 2001

The University of Notre Dame men's and women's track and field teams will each send one competitor to the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., this week. Senior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) will compete in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters while junior Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Texas) will run in the 400 meters. The competition begins on Wednesday, May 29, and concludes on Saturday, June 2.

Shay will enter the 10,000 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. with the fourth-best time in the field (28:40.03). The Irish senior will be going for his third consecutive All-America finish in the event, after placing seventh last year (30:54.65) and seventh in 1999 (29:55.78). Shay also competed in last summer's U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters, finishing 10th.

Friday (7:50 p.m.) will mark Shay's first NCAA outdoor meet appearance in the 5,000 meters, but he also boasts an indoor All-American honor in the event which he earned this past November with a ninth place finish (14:02.35). He is entering the field with the 15th-best time (13:54.77).

Grow will be making her third consecutive appearance in the NCAA outdoor meet for the 400 meters. She finished 17th as a freshman in 1999 and moved up to seventh in her heat in 2000 (53.91). Grow is coming off an All-American performance in the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships, taking eighth place in 53.73.

The women's 400 meter competition is scheduled to begin with the semifinals on Thursday at 5:10 p.m., while the finals are slated for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Grow has the seventh-best time in the field (52.40) entering the meet.