NOTRE DAME PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Alan Wasielewski 219-631-7516

Irish hope to carry momentum of a solid meet in Missouri into this

weekend: The University of Notre Dame women's track and field team hopes to

build off a solid second place finish in the Tom Botts Invitational last

weekend in Columbia, Mo., and prepare for the upcoming BIG EAST

Championship meet in Piscataway, NJ, May 4-6, with two meets this weekend.

The team will split up to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut,

Calif., and the Indy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind.. Ayesha Boyd, Dore

DeBartolo, Liz Grow, Megan Johnson, Tameisha King and the 4x100 and 4x400

relay teams will travel to the Mt. SAC Relays while the rest of the team

heads to Indianapolis for the Indy Invitational.



Freshman Kristin Dodd (Toledo, Ohio) continued her impressive

outdoor campaign by taking first in the 100- and 200-meter dashes last

weekend. Dodd posted times of 12.17 in the 100 and 24.56 in the 200.

Notre Dame's sprint group has really started to come into its own

this season. The 4x100 relay team posted a 44.74 time at the Spring Opener

two weeks ago, a possible NCAA Championship qualifying time. The

combination of All-American Liz Grow (New Braunfels, Texas), Dodd, Ayesha

Boyd (Spartanburg, SC) and Tameisha King (Mableton, Ga.) give the Irish one

of the fastest relay teams in the nation.



Senior Carri Lenz (London, Ontario) has two consecutive 400-meter

hurdle victories to her credit entering this weekend. She won the Spring

Opener in a season-best 1:02.04 and also placed first at in the 400 hurdles

at the Tom Botts Invitational last weekend.



King has been improving each week in her respective events and

looks to be on pace to repeat her long jump All-American finish from the

2000 outdoor season. Her 14.14 100-meter hurdle time from the ASU Invite

(March 31) is one of the top times in the BIG EAST this season. She also

ran a solid 12.26 in the 100 meters at last weekend's Tom Botts

Invitational while leaping a season-best 20-3 1/2 in the long jump.

King is not the only multi-dimensional standout the Irish women's

team has on the roster. Sophomore Jaime Volkmer (Kearney, Neb.), who has

been one of the top performers on the team since she arrived on campus,

might have enjoyed the best meet of her career so far at the Tom Botts

Invite last weekend. She won the pole vault by clearing a school-record

11-10 and also won the triple jump with a leap of 38-11 1/2. Volkmer also

placed fourth in the long jump (18-3 3/4) and has qualified for the BIG

EAST meet in all three events.



The Irish distance runners have continued to improve this season as

well. Sophomore Jen Handley (Barrie, Ont.) has the top times in the 3,000

and 5,000 this season while also running a personal-best time in the 1,500

last weekend. Freshman Megan Johnson (Seattle, Wa.) ran a personal best in

the 1,500 at the Tom Botts Invite and stepped down to the 800 meters and

turned in a team-best 2:12.35.



Sophomore Jennifer Fibuch (Leawood, Kan.) has been performing well

in the distance lane lately. She posted a personal-best 17:31.67 in the

5,000 meters last weekend, good enough to qualify for the BIG EAST

Championship race.



The throws group has been bolstered by the return of Dore DeBartolo

(Aurora, Ill.). DeBartolo has the top marks in the hammer, discus and shot

put in the outdoor season and claimed first place in both the shot put and

hammer last weekend. Her 47-5 3/4 measurement at the Tom Botts Invite is a

new personal best.



Results from the Mt. SAC Relays are available at http://ibm.mtsac.edu

and also on the official Notre Dame athletics website: www.und.com





Alan Wasielewski, Publicity Assistant

University of  Notre Dame Sports Information

112 Joyce Center, Second Floor

Notre Dame, IN 46556

(219) 631-3397/(219) 631-7941 (fax)

cell phone: 219-315-5746

E-mail: [email protected]