Irish work toward NCAA championship with home meet
By BRIAN BURKE
Sports Writer
Last weekend the Irish men's and women's track teams enjoyed more than just the nice weather out West, earning seven NCAA qualifying standards, including one automatic, at the Arizona State and Standard Invitationals.
This Saturday, with the Notre Dame men and women back in northern Indiana to host Butler, Miami (OH) and Western Michigan for a scoring meet, the focus will be less on notching NCAA bids and more on preparation.
"We certainly want to win the meet," head coach Joe Piane said. "It's different things for different people. We're running a lot of guys at different events, for some it's a tune up, for some it's the last race for a few weeks."
A big difference between this week and last will be the less than ideal conditions outdoors making it difficult for runners to run their fastest times.
"It probably won't happen," said Piane of Notre Dame's prospects for more NCAA qualifications this weekend.
Some of the top runners for the Irish will compete in events other than their usual events. Antonio Arce will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Marshaun West will race in the 400-meter run and Chris Cochran will run in the 100-meter dash.
"Most of us are running a lot of events, which is not conducive to top times. We're looking to work on our 4x100 (meter relay), especially the passes, maybe break the school record this weekend," Cochran said.
One potential NCAA qualifier this weekend could be Jennifer Engelhardt in the women's high jump, if the wind cooperates. Engel-hardt won the high jump at Arizona State last weekend and is one of the top high jumpers in the country.
"I think it's really early, a transition from indoor," Engelhardt said. "It's definitely going to be cold ... that will take some getting used to, but everyone has to compete in it."
While it may appear that this weekend is almost a competitive practice, it is the only scoring meet before the Big East Championships (also a scoring meet).
The Irish home this meet will prepare them for that format.
"We want to prepare for the Big East where we run a lot of races over a few days," assistant coach John Millar said. "We want to have people run a race and come back and run another 45 minutes later."
Notre Dame, Butler, Miami (OH), and Western Michigan start it off Saturday at 10 a.m. at Moose Krause Stadium.
All Sports Stories for Friday, March 31, 2000
