Jun 4, 2009
Irish Track and Field Heads to NCAA Outdoor Championships College | Views- 578

Irish Track and Field Heads to NCAA Outdoor Championships

Seven student-athletes will represent Notre Dame at national meet.

June 3, 2009 NOTRE DAME, Ind. ­ The Irish track and field teams will head south next weekfor the NCAA Outdoor Championships at John McDonnell Field on the campus ofthe University of Arkansas.

Seven Irish student-athletes will represent Notre Dame at this year¹snational meet. Three-time track All-American Patrick Smyth will compete in the 10,000meters, after setting an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 28:25.85 at theStanford Invitational. That time set a new Irish record and currently ranksfifth nationally. The senior from Salt Lake City, Utah earned his mostrecent All-America honor at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships with aneighth-place finish (8:01.56) in the 3,000 meters. The BIG EAST 10,000-meterchampion did not compete at the Mideast Regional meet.

Senior Mary Saxer garnered a trip to the NCAA outdoors after a fifth-placefinish at the regional meet and a record-breaking BIG EAST performance. TheLancaster, N.Y., native broke the BIG EAST Championships pole vault recordwith a 4.20 meter (13-9 1/4) title-winning vault at the 2009 outdoor meet,before finishing fifth at the NCAA regional competition with a mark of 4.11meters (13-5 3/4). Saxer earned her first All-America honor at the ¹09 NCAAindoors, after finishing ninth in the pole vault with a height of 4.05meters (13-3 1/2).

Joanna Schultz will run the 400 meters for the Irish. The ¹09 BIG EAST400-meter outdoor champion finished fifth at the regional meet with a timeof 53.32. She finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 54.09 toearn her first All-America citation.

Matt Schipper will compete in the pole vault after a fifth-place finish atthe Mideast regional. The Leo, Ind., native won his second straight BIG EASTtitle at the league¹s outdoor meet with a height of 5.25 meters (17-2 3/4).He competed at the ¹09 NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing 14th in the polevault. His vault of 5.30 meters (17-4 1/2) currently ranks 19th nationally.

Jaclyn Espinoza will be making her third straight trip to the NCAA outdoormeet. She finished 25th in the discus a year ago and recorded a 22nd-placefinish in 2007. She finished fifth at the ¹09 NCAA Mideast Regional and wonher first BIG EAST discus title with a mark of 50.80 meters (166-08).

Anna Weber finished fifth in the hammer throw at the Mideast regional toearn a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Her regional mark of 61.20meters (200-09) crushed her own school record and currently ranks 23rdnationally. She earned all-BIG EAST honors with a throw of 57.94 meters(190-01) and a third-place finish at the league meet.

Justin Schneider will compete in the decathlon for the Irish in his firstNCAA appearance. He earned all-league honors and finished second at the BIGEAST Championships with 6,842 points.

Events begin Wednesday at 10:30 with the men¹s hammer throw qualifyingrounds and continue through Saturday.

Complete results will be available at www.und.com following each day ofcompetition.