NEW YORK - Behind titles from two-time champions Patrick Feeney (400m) and Jeremy Rae (Mile), the Notre Dame men's track and field squad brought home its fifth BIG EAST indoor title on Sunday afternoon at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York.
The women's team showed great improvement from a year ago where they finished eighth, by turning in a fourth place effort led by Nevada Sorenson's 60m hurdles title.
The men totaled 131 points, 28 more than second place Connecticut, while the women tallied 79.
With the men's victory also came BIG EAST Men's Coaching Staff of the Year honors. It was the fifth time the staff had won the award.
Sitting in fourth after day one, the Irish men made good use of their 13 qualifiers on Sunday as six runners earned all-BIG EAST accolades while the 4x400 and 4x800-meter relay squads placed second.
A day after Kevin Schipper won his third consecutive BIG EAST Indoor pole vault title, Feeney and Rae won their respective titles for the second year in a row. Feeney's title in the 400m is the third for the Irish at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships, while Rae joins Kurt Benninger as the only Notre Dame runners to win two mile titles at the indoor championships.
Also earning all-BIG EAST accolades in individual events on the men's side were Johnathan Shawel (Troy HS, Placentia, CA) (1,000m), George Atkinson III (Granada HS, Livermore, CA) (200m), Randall Babb (800m) and Chris Giesting (500m).
The title was the fifth indoor crown for the Irish as a member of the BIG EAST and the first since 2010.
"We knew we were in pretty good shape after day one when we qualified a lot of guys," said head coach Joe Piane. "However, UConn is a very good team and they put a little bit of pressure on us when they had some good performances in the heptathlon and shot put. But the guys performed exceptionally well.
We had gone through a little bit of a dry spell, but this title shows we are doing the right things to get ready for the NCAA Indoor Championships and the outdoor season."
On the women's side, the squad was boosted by Sorenson's first title in the 60m hurdles a day after senior Maddie Buttinger placed second in the pentathlon.
Also earning all-BIG EAST accolades was the 4x800m relay team of Kelly Curran, Alexa Aragon, McKinzie Schulz and Rebecca Tracy.
The fourth-place showing was the best for the women's team since they placed second in 2007.
"The women's team showed great improvement from last year," said Piane. "Every aspect of the team performed well this weekend."
Event-By-Event Results
Men's Results
Heptathlon: A pair of Irish Heptathletes scored points as Ted Glasnow (Newhall, CA/Williams S. Hart Union)and Peter Sullivan finished, fourth and sixth, respectively. Glasnow, who was fifth after day one, scored 4,981 points. He finished ninth in the 60m hurdles and fourth in the pole vault and 1,000m run as he finished just over 200 points out of third place. Sullivan finished eighth in the 60m hurdles and third in the 1,000m and tied for fifth in the pole vault to take sixth place overall.
60m Hurdles: Sophomore Jarrod Buchanon, who qualified eighth in the 60m hurdles prelims, held serve in the finals on Sunday, finishing in 8.20.
60m: Freshman Josh Atkinson finished fifth in the 60m dash (6.88).
200m: Brothers George and Josh Atkinson went third and sixth in the 200m dash. George (21.47) and Josh (21.79), who are in the first season with the track squad after playing football in the fall, earned nine points for the Irish.
400m: Sophomore Patrick Feeney went back-to-back in the 400m dash, winning his second consecutive title in 46.97. Teammate Brendan Dougherty finished seventh in 48.40.
500m: Freshman Chris Giesting took third in the 500m run (1:01.28) to earn all-BIG EAST accolades. Senior Mitch Lorenz took eighth in 1:03.97 to score one point for the Irish.
800m: Senior Randall Babb finished third in the 800m run with a time of 1:53.42, while teammate Zac Suriano took sixth in 1:55.01.
Mile: Jeremy Rae won his second consecutive title in the mile, this time turning in an effort of 4:05.48, besting Villanova's Sam McEntee by just .44 seconds. Junior J.P. Malette took fourth in 4:10.55.
1,000m: Seniors Johnathan Shawel (2:30.10) and Jordan Carlson (2:30.50) finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 1,000m run. Shawel, the reigning two-time champion in the event, earned his third all-conference scroll in the event.
3,000m: Carlson was the top Irish finisher in the 3,000m run, claiming sixth in 8:09.88.
4x800m Relay: The relay team of Shawel, Suriano, Rae and Babb earned second place in 7:28.57.
4x400m Relay: The Irish earned a second consecutive relay runner-up finish as the team of Doughterty, Feeney, Lorenz and Giesting finished in 3:11.33.
Triple Jump: Logan Renwick took sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 14.61m (47-11.25 ft).
Shot Put: Andrew Brock (17.24m, 56-06.75 ft) and Andrew Hills (16.44m, 53-11.25 ft) finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the shot put.
All-BIG EAST Accolades
* = Champion
Chris Giesting (500m, 4x400)
Patrick Feeney (400m*, 4x400)
George Atkinson III (200m)
Jeremy Rae (Mile*, 4x800)
Johnathan Shawel (1,000m, 4x800)
Randall Babb (800m, 4x800)
Zac Suriano (4x800)
Brendan Dougherty (4x400)
Mitchell Lorenz (4x400)
Kevin Schipper (Pole Vault*)
Women's Results
60m Hurdles: Junior Nevada Sorenson won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.36. Teammate Kaila Barber finished fourth in 8.50.
400m: Michelle Brown and Natalie Geiger took sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 400m dash. Brown finished in 55.56, with Geiger right behind in 55.76.
500m: Megan Yanik took eighth in 1:14.29 to score a point for the Irish.
800m: Sophomore McKinzie Schulz crossed the line in fifth place in the 800m run in 2:10.90.
1,000m: After qualifying first in the 1,000m run on Saturday, freshman Emily Frydrych finished fifth in 2:49.21.
Mile: Sophomore Alexa Aragon finished fourth in the 1,000m run in 4:49.04, while Kelly Curran took eighth in 4:53.15.
4x800m Relay: The team of Curran, Aragon, Schulz and Rebecca Tracy earned a runner-up finish in the 4x800m relay (8:39.24).
4x400m Relay: Notre Dame's team of Geiger, Jade Barber, Brown and K. Barber finished fifth in a time of 3:41.98.
Shot Put: Emily Morris hurled the shot put 13.80m (45-03.50 ft) to claim seventh in the event.
All-BIG EAST Accolades
* = Champion
Maddie Buttinger (Pentathlon)
Nevada Sorenson (60mH*)
Kelly Curran (4x800)
Alexa Aragon (4x800)
McKinzie Schulz (4x800)
Rebecca Tracy (4x800)
Courtesy Notre Dame
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