Blue & Gold and Bronze
Falcons finish third at AMC Championships
| M Results | W Results |

CANTON, Ohio – The Notre Dame Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed at the American Mideast Conference (AMC) Championships with unyielding success on Friday and Saturday. Both the men and women finished in a program-best third place. The Men garnered 129 points while the women picked up 138, both improvements from 2007.

A slew of accomplishments occurred in Canton. Overall, five women earned AMC titles, while the Falcon men took home three Gold medals of their own. As for the record books, both teams combined to knock off 14 school records in all.

“We had a spectacular weekend, “ said Head Coach Joe Magill, “We were carried by our sprinters, throwers and jumpers but everyone was able contribute to our success.”

Highlighting the two-day event was April Wanzo (Sr/Cleveland, OH), who was named Outstanding Track Athlete of the meet for her four Gold medal performance. Wanzo earned individual Golds in the 100 and 200 Meter Dashes while anchoring the 4x100 (Davis-Hollis-Baker-Wanzo) and 4x400 (Patrick-Hill-May-Wanzo) Meter relays. This is the second consecutive year Wanzo has been given this honor.

“April continues to demonstrate that she among the elite runners at this level,” said Magill, who is nearing the end of this third season at the helm of both programs “She certainly deserved the recognition.”

Rounding out the women’s championship titles was Khadiya DeSilva (Fr/Cleveland, OH) who finished first in the High Jump with a height of 1.57 meters (5-01.75).

In the men’s competition, the Falcons boasted three titles for NDC including an unprecedented win in the High Jump by Paul Spencer (Fr/Mandeville, Jamaica) who lept to a height of 2.03 meters (6-08.00). Spencer’s jump was good enough not only for a first-place finish but also a new NDC record.

Joining Spencer in the success of the field events was Jim Boals (So/North Benton, OH) who finished first in the Discus hurling to a distance of 46.45 meters (152-05).

The third Gold for NDC came in the 4x400 Meter Relay (Bruce-Sheffey-McKrill-A. Robinson) where the Falcons clocked in with a remarkable finish of 3:15.97, which is a new AMC Championship meet and program record.

To add to the accolades, Notre Dame also had four new qualifiers for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Spencer qualified in the High Jump and three Falcon relays will head to St. Louis, May 22-24. The Men’s 4x400 Meter Relay and the Women’s 4x400 and 4x800 (Torres-Patrick-Melzer-May) Relays will join the Falcons as they continue to establish their national presence.

Notre Dame will travel to Oberlin, Ohio on Friday, Apr. 25 to compete at the Bob Kahn Invitational hosted by Oberlin College. The meet is scheduled for a 2:00pm start.