April 21 , 2007

A dozen strong
NDC garners twelve medals and a slew of records at AMC Meet

HOUGHTON, New York - The Notre Dame College Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams tallied nine medals at the American Mideast Conference Meet hosted by Houghton College. The Women’s team finished fourth with 76 points, while the Men’s team finished in sixth place with 58. 

In the men’s competition, the Falcons started off strong with a silver medal finish in the 100m dash where first-year standout (Fr/Waverly, OH) finished with a time of 10.97 seconds. Teammates Charles Wilson-Brown (Jr/Richfield, OH) and Brian Bruce (Sr/Cleveland, OH) finished in fourth and sixth place, respectively. Wilson-Brown and Tackett also picked up points in the 200m dash finals.

The other medal for the men’s team came in the 4x400m relay where the Royal and Gold sprinters finished in second place with a time of 3:23.35, just one second shy of a new school record.

In addition to the medal count, the men’s team set two new school records in the long jump and the hammer throw. To finish out Tackett’s strong debut at the AMC meet, he set a new school record in the long jump with a distance of 6.61m previously set at 6.57m by Chris Woodfork (So/Chillicothe, OH). Jim Boals (Fr/Beloit, OH) reset his own record in the hammer throw with a distance of 38.28m, a 1.49m increase from his previous throw.

“Overall it was a successful meet. We’ve faced some adversity this year with injuries and mother nature, so it’s been a real uphill climb for the men all along. I just hope that we can learn from this and come back even stronger next year,” said second-year Head Coach Joe Magill.

The women’s competition saw major progress from last year’s eighth place finish.  Eight new program records were set along with three individual titles and one American Mideast Conference MVP. The Royal and Gold also returned back to College Road with nine medal-worthy performances.

Jamyra Davis (Fr/Galloway, OH) made a strong debut at her first AMC meet with a silver medal finish in the 100m dash with a time of 12.73 which tops the 2007 NDC Performance list.

NDC’s two gold medals came from American Mideast MVP April Wanzo (Jr/Cleveland, OH) in the 200m and 400m dashes. Wanzo’s times of 25.32 in the 200m and 56.18 in the 400m also top the team Performance List this season. Wanzo’s MVP title is a program first for Notre Dame.

“April certainly earned MVP honors with winning two events and adding strong legs on relays that placed second and third. It’s good to see hard workers get rewarded for their efforts,” Magill said.

In the distance events, Cherice May (Fr/Euclid, OH) finished high enough for a position on the podium, as well. In the 800m run, she finished in third place with a time of 2:22.80 which was her second fastest time in the 2007 campaign. In her second individual pursuit, May’s time of 4:49.33 was not only fast enough for another bronze medal but also a new NDC record.

The field events proved to be record-friendly toward the Royal and Gold. Amanda Corrigan (Sr/Wickliffe, OH), who has proven to be a highly decorated pole vaulter, picked up one more gold medal and school record to top off her final conference meet appearance with a high of 3.04m. Angela Giamei (So/Lyndhurst, OH) also reset her own NDC record with a 9.07m triple jump feat.

Notre Dame youth lead the way in the throws as Eris Dyson (Fr/Shaker Heights, OH) set a school record in the discus throw (33.40m) while Maggie Cooper set records in the shot put (10.43m) and javelin (24.76m) events.

The Falcons weren’t finished collecting medals until the relays rolled around. After already earning a combined five medals, the 4x400m relay team of Jenny Rohn (So/Macedonia, OH), May, Corrigan and Wanzo hauled to a third place finish and program record 4:12.84. In the 4x800m relay, Rohn, Allie Rendlesham (So/Richmond Heights, OH), Wanzo and May earned the final medal of the day when they finished third with yet one more program record with a time of 9:45.32.

“The women had a fabulous meet. To move up from eighth place to fourth in one year is exciting. I always expect to improve each season but I was more than pleasantly surprised to move up this much. I am very hopeful for what future seasons hold for us,” Magill summarized.

The Falcon track and field teams may be finished within the AMC but the competition is far from over. NDC travels across town to the Baldwin-Wallace Invitational on Friday, April 27 for a 5:30pm start time.

Complete April 20-21 Results