TRACK AND FIELD: Irish open indoor home season tonight
By DAVE COOK
Sports Writer
Luke Watson is back. He is strong and he is eager to get the 2002 track season under way.
Watson was sidelined for the 2001 season because of problems with his IT band, a leg injury which left him unable to compete. He decided to sit out the whole season because he was not feeling strong — both physically and mentally.
"I obviously wanted to be out there competing, just because I'm a competitive person. It definitely was not fun sitting on the sidelines," Watson said.
During the 2000 season, Watson won the steeplechase run at the Big East outdoor championships and took 18th place in the same race at the NCAA national championships. Watson is also coming off a fifth place finish at the NCAA national championships in cross-country this fall where he earned All-American honors.
Now Watson is eager to carry on where he left off as the team continues its season Friday night at Notre Dame against Ball State and Western Michigan.
"Luke Watson will help out immensely. He would help any track team. He's going to be a major help," said Irish head coach Joe Piane.
Alongside Watson is a distance corps that is as good as it is deep. Six-time All American Ryan Shay will be returning for his final season. Shay finished sixth at the cross country nationals during the 2001 season, and he took first place in the 10,000 meter race at the 2001 NCAA Championship during outdoor track. Shay also finished sixth place behind Watson in the 2001 cross-country national championships.
Also looking to contribute significantly in the distance events are Pat Conway, Marc Striowski, Todd Mobley, and Kevin Somok. Friday night, Shay will be running the mile and Watson will be running in the 3000-meter race.
For the women's track and field team, it is Liz Grow who will be leading the Irish into the 2002 season.
Last season Grow became the first woman sprinter in Notre Dame history to earn All-American honors. She finished in eighth place last year in the 400-meter dash during the 2001 NCAA outdoor championships.
Grow will be running in the 500 meters Friday, an event in which she does not usually participate. Sophomores Ayesha Boyd and Kristen Dodd will be joining Grow in the sprinting events. Boyd won both the 60 meter and 200 meter dashes in competition last week at Purdue, a non-scored meet. Freshmen Tonya Cheatham, Tiffany Gunn, and Latasha Steele add to the young yet strong sprint group.
Also back is the entire 4x400 meter relay team that qualified for the NCAA championships during the 2001 season.
Another All-American in Tameisha King will be contributing significantly for the women. King participates in both the hurdle events and the long jump. Joining King in the long jump is senior Jaime Volkmer, who also participates in the pole vault competition.
In the men's sprint events, it will be Tom Gilbert who will be carrying much of the weight this season. Gilbert is the only one who has had considerable success in Big East competition. Gilbert runs the 60 meters and the 200 meters, his specialty being the 200 meters.
James Bracken and Ryan Hurd also look to succeed this season. From the football team, Vontez Duff, Julius Jones, and Matt Shelton look to add to the sprint corps.
The Irish will see very strong competition this Friday from Western Michigan.
Junior Krisy Mahome was named Mid-American Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week last week for contributing in every win in their last meet. She runs the 200 meter and 400 meter dashes.
On the men's side of Western Michigan, Dale Cowper will be leading the team as a thrower ranked No. 4 in the nation as of now. Western Michigan also features Steve Walke who runs in both the 4x400 meter relay and the 600 meter run.
From Ball State comes Zach Riley in the weight throw and sophomore Matthew Denmark who placed first in the high jump with an NCAA Provisional Qualfying height of 7-1.
For the women, junior Natash Lothery set a school record in the 600m last week. Also from Ball State is junior Katie Nowak who finished first at Purdue last week in the 1600.
Running events begin Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on Meyo Track.
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 18, 2002
