Oct. 18, 1997
1997-98 Season Outlook
Notre Dame's women's track and field team points to the 1998 seasons after
a 1997 season in which the Irish sent their largest contingent ever to the
NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. Notre Dame's considerable movement
up the BIG EAST standings and the returning talent bode well for more Irish
success in 1998. Head coach Joe Piane looks to direct Notre Dame's women's
track and field team to yet another successful season.
Hurdles
One of Notre Dame's two returning NCAA participants is junior Nadia Schmiedt (London, Ontario). Schmiedt qualified for the '97 NCAA outdoor championships in the 400-meter hurdles and ran 59.12 to place fifth in her heat. She finished second at the BIG EAST championships in the 400-meter hurdles for the second year. Schmiedt won three events and recorded a career best and the fourth-best time in school history with 58.62 at the Long Beach Invitational. She will be a key figure for the Irish once again.
"Nadia will be doing double duty for us," says Notre Dame sprint and hurdle coach John Millar. "We are counting on her to run well in both the 400-meter hurdles and the 500 meters. She is very talented and certainly capable."
Sophomore Emily Bienko (Tranquility, N.J.) will give the Irish incredible versatility once again. Bienko ran sparingly in the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles as a freshman but will be needed to contribute more in the hurdle events in 1998.
"We are really going to be dependent on Emily to team with Nadia to come through in the hurdles," says Millar.
Sophomore Sarah Lopienski (Hudson, Ohio) will also give the Irish depth in the hurdle events.
Sprints
The Irish will need to replace their only BIG EAST champion, as 400-meter champion Alison Howard has been lost to graduation. The departure of Howard, however, is tempered with the return of senior Berit Junker (Erfurt, Germany), who spent the 1996-97 academic year studying in Rome with the University's architecture program. After concentrating on the 800 meters in her first years, Millar sees Junker contributing in the 400 meters as well.
"Berit rejoins the team this year and we'll really need her," says Millar. "We know she'll excel in the 800 meters but we also expect good things out of her in the 400 and 500 meters. She'll be getting a lot of work."
Bienko and Lopienski will also be needed to shore up events in the sprints as well. Bienko filled in for the 200 meters as a freshman, while Lopienski ran behind Howard in numerous 200 and 400 meter events.
Freshman Carrie Lenz (London, Ontario) hails from the same hometown as Schmiedt and competed in the 1996 Canadian Olympic Trials. She specializes in the 400 meters but also brings much-needed versatility to the track.
"Carrie has good range so we'll have to use her in short sprints," says Millar. "In the big meets she will concentrate on the 400 meters and also will help out a lot in dual meets."
Distance
While the Irish fell short last year of taking advantage of their powerful corps of distance runners, distance coach Tim Connelly has his runners poised to break out in 1998. Led by a talented group of sophomores, Notre Dame could field one its best group of distance runners in school history.
"We need to do a better job in the conference meet of scoring points in the distance area," says Connelly. "We need to score points out of the runners who are capable of scoring points, something we were not effective in doing last year. Some of our distance runner should also be able to quality for the NCAA championships."
Sophomore cross country All-American JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) heads up Notre Dame's distance attack. Deeter was limited to just four indoor events during the 1997 season but managed to break a school record and post a provisional NCAA qualifying time. She finished second in the 5,000 meters at the Meyo Invitational with a school record time of 16:50.84. Deeter also won the 3,000 meters and the mile against Indiana.
Sophomore Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) should team with Deeter to give the Irish a solid duo in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Klemmer spent the 1997 track season recovering from a foot injury that kept her out of the '96 cross country season as well. Klemmer has recovered from the injury well and is running stronger than ever.
Sophomore Nicole LaSelle (Dayton, Ohio) will give Notre Dame a tremendous boost with her versatile distance ability. LaSelle, also one of the team's best cross country runners, also can run numerous events, from the mile up to the 10,000 meters.
"JoAnna, Alison and Nicole will make us a very talented group of distance runners," says Connelly. "We are also fortunate to have a number of upperclassmen who are experienced in the distance events."
Highlighting this group are seniors Janel Kiley (Somerville, Mass.) and Heidi Reichenbach (Plainfield, Ill.). Kiley and Reichenbach finished third and fifth at the Meyo Invitational in the 5,000 meters and also gave the Irish solid results at the BIG EAST championships in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Senior Mieke Walsh (York, Pa.) and junior Kelly Peterson (Escondido, Calif.) should also contribute.
Middle Distance
Senior Gretchen Weiher (Toledo, Ohio) ran the team's fastest times in the 1,000 meters and the outdoor 800 meters in 1997 and should serve as the veteran of the middle distance runners. She won the 1,000 at the Alex Wilson and ran the season-best 1,000 in 2:58.87 in a second-place showing at the Meyo Invitational.
After Weiher, the Irish will point to the younger runners on the squad to lead the middle distance runners.
"Last year, our freshmen were cross country runners who have now developed into great track runners," says Connelly. "This year our freshmen are natural middle distance runners and should help us out right away."
Sophomore Patti Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) ran the fastest indoor 800 meters on the team as a freshman in winning in 2:13.78 at the Alex Wilson. Rice won the 1,500 meters at the Boilermaker Open with the fastest 1,500 meters of the season for the Irish. After a year of adjusting to the track, Rice should give Notre Dame even better finishes.
Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.), Cara Motter (Brawley, Calif.) and Denise Bakula (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) are the other sophomores who should give the Irish solid contributions in the middle distance events.
It is among the middle distance runners that Connelly sees the freshmen making the biggest impact. The freshman trio of Leanne Brady (Trumbull, Conn.), Jennifer Pavela (LaCrosse, Wis.) and Amy Schlatterbeck (Granger, Ind.) should contribute for the Irish in the 800 and 1,500 meters and on relays.
Brady comes to Notre Dame as a two-time Connecticut indoor state champion in the 500 and 800 meters and outdoor state champion in the 800 meters. Pavela won five individual state titles in track and went undefeated in 1,600 meters as a junior. Schlatterbeck was a two-time all-state selection in the 800 meters.
"Our depth among the middle distance runners should really be a plus for us," says Connelly. "We will be able to put together some good relays and score some big points in the relays with the depth we have."
Field Events
Notre Dame will look to its other returning participant in the NCAA championships to lead the field athletes. Sophomore Jennifer Engelhardt (Battle Creek, Mich.) high jumped her way into Notre Dame's record books and into the NCAA indoor championships. The BIG EAST runner-up jumped a school-record 5-10 3/4 to win the Alex Wilson and then finished ninth at the NCAA championships to become Notre Dame's first field athlete All-American. In the outdoor season, she once again took second at the BIG EAST championships as she jumped to another school record of 5-10.
"Hopefully, Jennifer can improve on the mental aspect of track and field competition," says Notre Dame field coach Scott Winsor. "We've also moved her into participating in multi-events, at least indoors. This will help her become stronger and increase her flexibility."
Junior Kelle Saxen (Canton, Ohio) was right behind Engelhardt in the high jump. She jumped a career-best 5-8 as she placed third at the BIG EAST indoor championships and scored more points with her eighth-place finish at the outdoor championships.
"Kelle will be a very productive high jumper for us," says Winsor. "She will be much stronger this year and that will help her high jump."
Bienko will help the team once again in the multi events and the throws. She threw a personal best in the shot put with 44-11 in winning the Miami Classic and took fourth at both BIG EAST championships. Bienko also scored in the pentathlon with her sixth-place finish at the indoor championships.
"Emily truly is both a track and field athlete," says Winsor. "Her natural abilities are in the throws so we'd like to see her also participate in the discus, which could be her best event."
Sophomore Katie Knecht (Catasauqua, Pa.) won the javelin against Miami and Butler and also qualified for the finals at the BIG EAST championships. Winsor is looking for Knecht to continue to improve and give more solid results.
The Irish saw another school record broken in 1997 as sophomore Angela Patrizio (Boca Raton, Fla.) triple jumped 36-9 indoors against Indiana and 36- 1/4 outdoors at the Spartan Invitational. With her solid results as a freshman, Patrizio impressed the coaches, who will be looking for more of the same in 1998.
"To be effective in the BIG EAST Angela will have to improve by at least two feet but she is capable of doing it," says Winsor. "She is strong and young but needs to improve her technique a little bit."Irish Build On '97 NCAA Successn Notre Dame looks for an encore after sending its largest group of NCAA qualifiers in 1997.Sophomore Sarah Lopienski will run in both hurdle and sprint events for the Irish.All-American Jennifer Engelhardt returns after placing ninth at the 1997 NCAA indoor championships in the high jump.
