Teams travel to Bloomington for dual meet
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Assistant Sports Editor
The track and field teams renew an in-state rivalry with Indiana today, hoping to bring home a double victory from the dual meet in Bloomington.
Last season, Indiana edged Notre Dame 84-78 on the men's side while the Notre Dame women pulled out a close victory 82-78.
"Hopefully we can win both the men and the women," field events coach Scott Winsor said. "They're going to be tough. We have our events that we should win; they have their events that they should win. I would say they have more depth than we do, but we run into that a lot."
The Irish raced well in their season-opening quadrangular meet last weekend, with the men capturing first place and the women taking second.
Field events were one of the strengths for the Irish last weekend, an area they must do well in to defeat Indiana.
"On the women's side, Indiana is very tough in the throws and very deep in the throws, so we're going to struggle there," Winsor said. "We need to win in the long jump and we need to win in the high jump. In the throws, the shot and the weight, we've got to get what we can. Dore DeBartolo needs to pick off one, maybe two, of their throwers."
Winsor also keyed on the importance of freshman Jamie Volkmer's performance in the pole vault and triple jump. Volkmer set school records in both events last weekend, but must be in top form to capture victories at Indiana.
Fellow freshman Tameisha King broke another school record in the long jump in the home opener, and plans to jump farther tonight.
"I'm trying to qualify for the NCAAs," King said. "The standard is 20 feet, and since that's only six inches away, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm also trying to set a PR [personal record]."
Senior long jumper and sprinter Marshaun West provides a solid foundation for the men's team. West met provisional standards for the NCAA championships last weekend, and should be a shoo-in for victory at Indiana. Senior Matt Thompson is an athlete the Irish need a win from in the weight throw.
But it will likely be the results of the pole vault and shot put that make the difference. Freshman pole vaulter Nathan Cahill hopes his first-meet jitters have worn off.
"I was a little nervous in the beginning because in high school, I always knew that I could go out there and just beat everybody," Cahill said, "Whereas in college, there are guys there who can just kick your butt. I was hoping on getting 16 feet, and I only got 15-foot-six, but I wasn't disappointed. This weekend, I'm aiming once again for 16 feet. There's going to be some really strong competition with my fellow vaulters and I since we're all [jumping] around the same height."
The distance runners began their year by having two NCAA provisional marks coming from Phil Mishka in the 800-meter run and Luke Watson in the 3000-meter run.
"It will be my first mile race of the season, and we just want to score points for the team in that one," Watson said. "We're a good team this year and we've been comparing ourselves against other teams in the Big East, not necessarily directly against Indiana. If everyone performs the way they did last week or better, then we should come away with a victory."
The women will add All-American Alison Klemmer to the mix this weekend, as she will compete in the 3000-meter run for her first race of the season.
"She's ready to run fast," distance coach Tim Connelly said. "I know that just off of her training. It should be a good race."
Chrissie Kuenster and Nicole LaSelle will join Klemmer to fill out the 3000-meter race.
Patty Rice and Jennifer Handley will represent Notre Dame in the mile. In the 800-meter race, Connelly will run last weekend's champion Leanne Brady, Rice and Kelly Tutko.
Top sprinters include Chris Cochran and Liz Grow, who won the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash for the men and women, respectively, last weekend.
King and West are also key crossovers from the long jump to the sprints.
Notre Dame will have to be on its toes to beat Indiana.
"[Indiana] has had two scoring meets so far," Connelly said. "They beat Michigan which was the defending Big Ten champion last year, and last week they beat Ohio State and Washington."
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 28, 2000
