Redwine returns from injuries to leap career best
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
Quill Redwine isn't injured anymore.
The Irish junior jumper — who has missed much of the last two seasons with various leg injuries — excelled in both the horizontal and vertical leaps Friday night, winning both the high jump and triple jump to lead the Irish men past Michigan State, 94-63.
Redwine began the meet in style, easily clearing the preliminary heights. Before long, all the other jumpers were on the sideline, having failed to clear the bar. Redwine continued, finally finishing with a career-best leap of 6 foot, 10 inches. Teammate Andrew Cooper came in third, sailing 6-8.
"I've just felt really good going over the bar in practice," said Redwine. In the triple jump, Redwine eclipsed teammate Godwin Mbagwu by eight inches with a leap of 48-1.
"Quill is really really coming into his own," said Notre Dame field events coach Scott Winsor.
For the second meet in a row, the Irish dominated in all the jumping events. In the long jump, sophomore Tom Gilbert won his first of three events on the day with a jump of 3-5. Mbagwu finished third with a measurement of 22-2, one half-inch behind the Spartans' Jeff Kus.
Gilbert's strong evening continued on the track. He sprinted to easy victories in the 60 meters (6.99 seconds) and 200 meters (21.96 seconds). Gilbert is undefeated in both the long jump and 200 meters this season.
Freshman Mark Barber continued to improve in the 60 meter high hurdles, taking second to talented Spartan hurdler Terry Jenkins in a time of 8.54 seconds. In the 400 meters, senior Terry Wray rebounded from a tough race in the season's first meet to dominate the race. Wray broke away with 150 meters remaining and was able to hold on for a winning time of 48.85 seconds.
Wray also impressed in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Nick Setta, Mike Mansour, James Bracken and Wray narrowly took second in the event, posting an improved time of 3:16.79.
"Terry is starting to get back to where he was last year at this time," said Irish sprints coach John Millar. "I think that was a good race for him from a confidence standpoint, to get out there and run closer to what he's capable of."
The 500 meters provided the meet's most entertaining race. With less than 200 meters remaining, Setta stood in fifth place. Setta — who had been struggling with a flu the entire week — then kicked into high gear. Notre Dame's star kicker passed every runner ahead of him, including teammate Mansour on the final straightaway, to win the event in 1:04.97.
"For a guy who's only been out for a couple of weeks, Setta's certainly put in a couple of really good performances," Millar said of Setta, who finished second in the 500 meters in his first meet of the season.
The 800 meter race provided the largest challenge for the Irish. Michigan State placed the top three runners in the event ahead of Irish senior Nate Andrulonis, who finished in 1:54.89.
Pat Conway continued to improve in the mile run. Conway took first in the event for the second consecutive week, posting a time of 4:11.52.
In the 3,000 meter run, senior Ryan Shay proved that he is, indeed, back. After failing to score in the mile run the previous week, Shay dominated the race, winning in a personal-best time of 8:19.75 — nearly 14 seconds ahead of teammate John Keane, who took second.
"Marc Striowski and I planned it out where I would lead the first half-mile and he would lead the second half-mile," said Shay. "But he ended up struggling."
The Irish placed well in the pole vault, but failed to improve statistically from the season's first meet. Junior Josh Heck and sophomore Nate Cahill took second and third, respectively. Both cleared the bar at only 15-1.
In the throws, sophomore Brian Thornburg continued to improve, setting a personal record for the second consecutive meet in the 35-pound weight throw with a toss of 54-11.
"It's in Brian," said Winsor. "I need to make sure that he can contribute not only in the weight, but in other areas."
The Irish will host the Meyo Invitational in Loftus starting Friday afternoon.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, January 30, 2001
