Taylor Trojan Invite Recap & More
3 Meets in 8 Days
We were excited to compete in the Taylor Trojan Invite last Saturday, January 27th. We had 23 runners, set 4 club records, and had a lot of fun.
With the addition of Josh Allen to the team, we had our first-ever men’s high jumper and triple jumper. He is a spectacular jumper, jumping 1.87m in the high jump (3rd in the country) and 12.36m in the triple jump (5th in the country). National individual rankings can be found here.
The races started with the best one of the day. The indoor 5K, that’s 25 laps around the track. For the women Gracie Wetli ran an impressive time of 19:23.15, the 2nd fastest indoor 5K in club history. For the men Owen Donaher (15:55.11), Winston Fairchild (16:54.82), and Andrew Jitendran (18:19.66) all had great performances.
Next up was the women’s 4x800m. Ingrid Corpus, Emily Arenas, Karson Girvin, and Audrey Christo ran in 10:56.41, the 3rd fastest 4x800m of all time.
Theresa Kerker is our first-ever women’s hurdler. She ran the 60m hurdles in a time of 11.13 and set the club record.
Next up was Danny O’Gara in the 60m dash. He ran an impressive time of 7.64.
Following that was the mile, the main event for the club teams. 54 men and women from Indiana, Purdue, and Notre Dame running clubs ran the mile. Notre Dame had a spectacular performance. For the women Emily Arenas (5:32.85), Ingrid Corpus (5:45.78), Jenny Wolf (6:04.19), Lucy Noris (6:12.4), and Aine Fitzpatrick (6:20.51) ran. The men were Julian Stedman (4:53.05), Héctor González Dueñes (4:53.94), Nathan Gafney (5:29.24), and Jonathan Karr (5:52.08).
Next up was the men’s 200 meter dash. Daniel O'Gara (25.97) Connor Paszkiewicz (26.77), Nathan Gafney (26.97), Kevin Taylor (29.79), and Zeke Wigutow (30.55) all had impressive performances.
Following that Andrew Jitendran ran the 800m in a time of 2:28.96.
After that was the 3K. The women had a spectacular performance with Audrey Christo and Karson Grivin running with times of 11:04.97 and 11:40.27 respectively. For the men, Zach Wrobel ran in a time of 9:56.13. Ryan Fryer also ran the men’s 3K in a time of 9:02.68 at the Blue Demon Alumni Invitational.
The men’s 400 meter dash was after that. Connor Paszkiewicz (57.89), Zeke Wigutow (1:00.02), and Kevin Taylor (1:06.85) all had great races.
Next up was the women’s 4x400. Gracie Wetli, Emily Arenas, Lucy Noris, and Theresa Kerker had a great race and finished with a time of 4:39.45.
Last, but certainly not least was the men’s 4x400, and it went down in dramatic fashion. During the relay, the baton was dropped yet Julian Stedman, Connor Paszkiewicz, Winston Fairchild, and Zeke Wigutow were still able to set the club record and beat two Purdue teams with a time of 3:57.88.
It was a great time getting to compete with Indiana and Purdue running clubs and a nice way to start the season off strong. The meet was fun and there was a lot of great conversation throughout the day. We had a great time and stopped at Chipotle on our way back to campus.
Club Records:
Men's High Jump 1st Place - Josh Allen 1.87m
Men's Triple Jump 1st Place - Josh Allen 1
Women’s Indoor 5K 2nd Place - Gracie Wetli 19:23.15
Women's Indoor 60 Meter Hurdles 1st Place - Theresa Kerker 11.13
Men's Indoor 4 x 400 Meter Relay 1st Place - Stedman, Paszkiewicz, Fairchild, Wigutow: 3:57.88
Special Shoutouts:
1st Meet: Theresa Kerker, Aine Fitzpatrick, Josh Allen, and Héctor González Dueñes
5 Meets: Danny O’Gara and Nathan Gafney
25 Meets: Karson Girvin and Jonathan Karr
You can view all running club records and results here.
Taylor Trojan meet results can be found here.
Blue Demon Alumni Classic meet results can be found here.
Taylor Trojan meet photos can be found here.
Notre Dame Running Club in the News this week:
The Collegiate Running Club (CRC) Coaches Poll (formerly NIRCA Coaches Poll) has the women ranked 14th in the country in the first poll. The next poll is coming out this Wednesday, February 7th.
In the CRC Coaches Poll article this week, Gracie Wetli, Audrey Christo, Josh Allen, and Pete Heesters are mentioned. There may be a chance for the men to be ranked in the coming week in addition to the women given that they are gaining National recognition.
Taylor Univesity also posted women’s and men’s YouTube recap videos. The women’s video also features Gracie Wetli in the 5K.
Pete at Meyo
Pete Heesters qualified for the Meyo Invitational on Saturday, February 3rd. It was held at Notre Dame’s Loftus indoor track and is one of the best regular season meets in the country. He ran the 3K in an impressive outstanding time of 8:34.68. This ties his PR to the 100th of a second. He ran the same time at the 2023 Alex Wilson Invitational and has the second fastest time in club history.
Meyo Invitational meet results can be found here.
Meyo Invitational meet photos can be found here.
Looking Forward
Our next official running club meet is the Margaret Bradley Invitational at the University of Chicago on Saturday, February 17th. This meet has great competition and Northwestern Running Club will also be attending. We are so excited to travel to Chicago for the first time ever!
If you are interested in joining the Notre Dame Running Club and are a Notre Dame, Holy Cross, or St. Mary's student we would love to have you on the team. We have runners of all abilities and are accepting of all track and field athletes.
Feel free to contact us at runclub@nd.edu if you have any questions.
Practice times and other information can also be found on our website.
Post by: Jonathan Karr
Photos and editing: Jonathan Karr (Taylor Trojan mile and long jump photos by: Theresa Kerker)
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