NOTRE DAME MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD TEAM CLAIMS FIRST-EVER BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP, WOMEN FINISH THIRD

May 7th, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Peggy Curtin
(219) 631-7516

Men's coaching staff earns Staff of the Year award for the second consecutive year

(PISCATAWAY, N.J.) - - The Notre Dame men's outdoor track team won their first-ever BIG EAST title in Piscataway, N.J., over the weekend. The Irish scored 164 team points, finishing ahead of Connecticut (111) and Georgetown (106). The women repeated their third place performance from a year ago, finishing with 93 points behind Villanova (118) and defending champion Miami (103).

The men's team title is the first track and field title for the Notre Dame program since they began conference competition in 1996. The Irish ended a streak of five straight titles for Georgetown, while head coach Joe Piane, along with assistants Tim Connelly, John Millar and Scott Winsor were named BIG EAST Outdoor Staff of the Year for the second consecutive year.

The men were in first place after the first day of competition on Saturday and continued to stretch their lead on Sunday. The school-record holding 4X100 relay team of junior Travis Davey (St. James, N.Y.), senior Chris Cochran (Crystal Lake, Ill.), freshman Tom Gilbert (Rock Falls, Ill.) and senior anchor Marshaun West (Sikeston, Mou.) took first place and established a BIG EAST meet record time of 40.54.

It was a busy day for West and Cochran as both seniors competed in three events on the day. They finished in the top five in the 200 meters earlier in the day, West taking third in 21.29 and Cochran fourth in 21.37. Cochran completed his impressive day by finishing second in the 400 meters in 47.80, while West took third in the long jump with a mark of 25-8.

Junior cross country All-American Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) followed up his win in the 10,000 meters Saturday with his second BIG EAST title of the meet in the 5,000 meters Sunday. Shay took first in 14:42.91 and was not alone at the finish line as four Irish runners finished in the top eight in the event. Sophomore Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.), who won the steeplechase on Saturday, finished third in the 5,000 in 14:50.97. Senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) and sophomore Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.) finished in sixth (15:12.61) and seventh (15:18.84) place, respectively.

Middle distance specialist senior Phil Mishka (Toldeo, Ohio) finished second in the 800 meters (1:50.76) to round out the top finishers on the men's team.

The women entered the second day of competition in second place and looked strong early. Jennifer Engelhardt (Battle Creek, Mich.) won her third consecutive BIG EAST outdoor high jump title by clearing 5-11 1/2, setting a BIG EAST meet record. The mark is also an NCAA championship meet qualifying height. Freshman Tameisha King (Mableton, Geo.) took second in the long jump with a mark of 21-1 1/2, which was the second NCAA qualifying mark for the women's team on the day. King also competed in the 100 meter low-hurdles, taking fifth in 13.85.

Complete results of the meet are available at the official BIG EAST web site, www.BIGEAST.org. The Irish have two meets remaining this year, the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., May 13 and the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Geo., May 20. The NCAA title meet is set for May 31 - June 3 in Durham, N.C.

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