Grow, King lead Notre Dame to meet win
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
Irish junior Liz Grow promised a team win this weekend. She backed up that promise with a pair of victories in the 200 meters and the 400 meters and sophomore Tameisha King won three events as Notre Dame won Friday night's triangular meet against Ball State and Western Michigan.
Notre Dame eked out a narrow victory over Ball State, scoring 125 points to the Cardinals' 121. Western Michigan was a distant third with 63 points.
Grow, last year's Big East champion in the 400 meters, had one of the most exciting races. With about 250 meters to go, Grow was in third place. Within 100 meters, though, the junior flew past Ball State's Jada Phelps and Western Michigan's Angela Cole-Curry to win the race in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 54.61 seconds, nearly a second and a half faster than second-place Phelps.
"It felt like I had a really good start, and I was relaxed when I broke in," said Grow. "I ran really relaxed and turned it on in the last 100."
Grow also took first in the 200 meters, winning in 24.49 seconds.
"I didn't expect to go this fast this early in the season," she said. "I can't wait to race more and see what I can do."
King continued right where she left off last season in the long jump, winning the event with a jump of 19 feet, four inches. The sophomore also took first in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.7 seconds and won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.63 seconds.
"I think she's capable of going even faster in the hurdles," said Irish sprint coach John Millar.
Irish freshman Kristen Dodd had an impressive collegiate debut. She took second in the 60-meter dash, only three-hundredths of a second behind King, and placed third in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.24 seconds.
In the pole vault, assistant coach Scott Winsor's decision not to enter sophomore Jaime Volkmer paid off as freshman Jill Van Weelden and junior Natalie Hallett both broke Volkmer's indoor school record. Both vaulters cleared 11'4", besting Volkmer's mark by a quarter-inch. Van Weelden was awarded first place since she had fewer misses than Hallett did.
"I felt Natalie and Jill kind of fed off each other," said Winsor. "A little competitiveness is always a good thing."
Volkmer placed in all three events in which she competed. She took third in both the high jump and in the triple jump, and placed sixth in the long jump.
Irish freshman Jennifer Kearney won her first collegiate event, the high jump, by clearing 5'3". Kearney and Ball State's Ayesha George actually jumped the same height, but in the tiebreaker, George had more misses than Kearney did.
"She's a freshman, it was her first meet, and I think she really needed that win," Winsor said. "She needed that before she jumps into the frying pan against tons and tons of talent."
Notre Dame's distance runners also made an impressive debut.
In the 800 meter run, freshman Megan Johnson surged ahead of the pack at the 400-meter mark and crossed the line first, winning in 2:16. Senior Leanne Brady followed Johnson across the line to take second place.
"I told the 800 runners that if we wanted to win the meet, we needed to go one-two," said distance coach Tim Connelly.
In the mile, sophomore Jennifer Handley lost to Ball State's Katie Nowak by a mere three-tenths of a second. With one lap to go, Handley led Nowak by about three meters. However, Nowak pulled even with Handley on the back straightaway, and then inched into the lead with approximately 20 meters to go.
"I thought she raced very well," Connelly said of Handley's effort. "That's the best I've ever seen her compete."
Junior Chrissy Kuenster and sophomore Jennifer Fibuch placed second and third in the 3,000-meter run.
Notre Dame's next competition is this Friday against Michigan State in the Loftus Sports Complex.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 22, 2001
