Crop of young speedsters look promising in dual
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
She may have had a bandage wrapped around her leg, but Irish sophomore sprinter Kymia Love hardly looked restrained during Friday's 88-71 Notre Dame victory over Michigan State.
Love fought off teammate Kristin Dodd to win the 400 meters in a time of 56.33 seconds.
"Kymia showed us last year she can run," said Irish sprints coach John Millar. "She's really struggled with injuries ever since her senior year of high school. She had a great fall. She's starting to come on again and I think she's going to surprise some people."
The Irish dominated the sprinting events to edge the Spartans. Big East 400 meter champion Liz Grow dropped down to the 60 meters and 200 meters for the meet to work on her speed. Grow easily won both events, clocking a 7.56 in the 60 and 24.24 seconds in the 200.
Freshman Ayesha Boyd finished second in both events, running 7.71 seconds in the 60 and 25.15 in the 200. Dodd took third in the event, coming in at 26.06.
"Kristen Dodd to me has been really impressive as a freshman," said Millar. "More than anything, she seems to be really a good competitor."
Sophomore Tameisha King fought off tough competition from Michigan State's Sherita Williams in both the 60 meter hurdles and the long jump. King took first in the hurdles, crossing the finish line in 8.65 seconds, two hundredths ahead of Williams.
"She's improved much over last year," Millar said.
In the long jump, King — who has cleared 21 feet outdoors — jumped 19 feet, 3 inches, just 6 inches beyond Williams. "She's only been working on the long jump one day a week," said field events coach Scott Winsor. "She's been working a lot in the hurdles."
In the 500 meters, junior Amanda Alvarez took first out of four runners, winning with a time of 1:16.54.
The Irish were most impressive in the distance events. Against a talented group of Spartan runners, Notre Dame was able to hold their own. Leanne Brady took second place in the 800 meters in 2:16.02, while teammate Kristin Flood followed to take third in 2:19.22.
Notre Dame also picked up three points in the mile run, where Megan Johnson broke the five-minute mark to take third, running 4:59.56. Senior Chrissy Kuenster took fourth in 5:11.34.
In the 3,000 meters, the Irish actually outscored their Big Ten opponent. Jen Handley took second, losing a sprint down the final straightaway and finishing in 9:53.85. Handey was followed by Julia Schmidt (10:30.65) and Kuenster (10:31.49).
The Irish were also impressive in the field events. In the shot put, fifth-year student Emily Bienko, who is competing while attending law school, took first with a throw of 41-10.
"She's thrown 45 feet for us before," said Winsor. "I think it's going to take her a few times to get back in the swing of it."
In the pole vault, sophomore Jaime Volkmer broke teammate Jill Van Weelden's week-old school record, clearing the bar at 11-10.
"She's just going to get better and better," said Winsor. "She has the ability right now to qualify for the NCAA meet. She needs to help us in the triple jump. I think she may have lost focus there."
In the triple jump, Volkmer took second to Williams' leap of 40-5, jumping 38-1.
Jennifer Kearny again took first in the high jump for Notre Dame, clearing 5-5.
"Jennifer is going to be really good," said Winsor. "My main concern with her right now is strength."
In the final event of the meet, the Notre Dame 4x400 meter relay team took the gold, finishing in 3:51.07 behind a strong first leg by Grow.
The Irish next compete at the Meyo Invitational in Loftus on Friday and Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, January 30, 2001
