Notre Dame track and field wraps up competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championship

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

Track And Field Wraps Up Competition At NCAA 2001 Outdoor Championships

Ryan Shay follows up his 10,000-meter victory with an All-American finish
in the 5,000 meters, Liz Grow finishes 13th in the 400 meters.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- (6-3-01) The University of Notre Dame men's and
women's outdoor track and field 2000-01 seasons have come to an end as
senior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) and junior Liz Grow (New Braunfels,
Texas) finished up competition in the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships in Eugene, Ore., over the weekend.
Shay, who became the first Irish athlete since 1972 to claim an
NCAA individual title in the 10,000 meters on Thursday, earned his sixth
career All-America honor on Friday by taking sixth place in the 5,000
meters. He finished the race in 13:52.45, 10 seconds off the pace of
champion Jonathan Riley (13:42.51) from Stanford. Shay's vicotry in the
10,000 meters, combined with the sixth place 5,000 meter performance, was
good enough for the Irish to finish 21st (13 points) in the men's team
competiton.
Shay will return to campus next fall to compete for the Irish cross
country team and his six career All-America honors include three in the
10,000 meters (1999, 2000, 2001), one in cross country (12th-place finish
at the 1999 NCAA meet), one in the indoor 5,000 meters (2001) and one in
the outdoor 5,000 meters (2001). Those six awards place him high up on the
list of Notre Dame's all-time track and field and cross country performers,
including Greg Rice (six All-America honors from 1937-39), Peter Farrell
(six honor from 1965-68) and Mike McWilliams (five honors from 1992-95).
Indoor All-American Liz Grow finished 13th in the women's 400-meter
field, taking third in her heat in 53.28. This was her third consecutive
appearance at the NCAA outdoor championships and she will return next
season to anchor a sprint corps that nearly missed qualifying for this
year's championship in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

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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]