May 26, 2018
By Matt Paras
TAMPA, Fla. – The Notre Dame track and field team closed out the east preliminary round with three more athletes claiming their spots at NCAA’s. Matthew Birzer in the high jump, Jessica Harris in the 1500m and Rachel DaDamio in the 5000m punched their tickets to Eugene, bringing the Irish total up to six athletes for the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The highlight of the meet for the Irish came in the final event of weekend as DaDamio put together one of her best races in the first heat of the 5000m. For a majority of the race, she was in the middle pack of the runners until the field started to separate in the final mile of the race. With two laps remaining, DaDamio started to make her move. She was in ninth place with 800 meters to go and she started to catch up with the front pack. On the final straightaway, DaDamio made her final pass and crossed the finish line in fifth place (16:21.13) to clinch her first career trip to Eugene.
Harris was slated to run in the first of two heats in the 1500m and minutes before race time, the skies opened up above USF Track and Field Stadium and the rain started to come down. The rain did not let up as the gun went off for Harris’ heat and as she usual does, she jumped out to the front to set the pace. By the third lap, the rain let up and the lead pack separated themselves from the field. Coming down the final straightaway, Harris finished in fifth (4:17.86) and secured her second consecutive trip to NCAA’s.
Birzer had his fair share of weather during the high jump. He got a pass until 2.06m and cleared his opening height on the first attempt. As the bar moved up to 2.11m (6-11), the skies started to darken as another storm was coming. Being the third athlete to jump in his flight, Birzer cleared 2.11m on his first attempt and shortly after, the rain began to fall again. Although he was not able to clear 2.16m, he punched his ticket to Eugene. Like Harris, this will be the second consecutive trip to nationals for Birzer.
In the men’s 1500m, Yared Nuguse looked to be the first Irish freshman to qualify for NCAA’s since Jordan Shead in 2015. Nuguse was in the first heat and made his way up to the lead pack shortly after the start. As he came down the straightaway after the first 800 meters, he tripped up and fell to the track. Nuguse popped right back up and made a strong push to get back into the race. Unfortunately, he was unable to overcome the fall and his successful freshman season came to a close.
Sophomore Summer Thorpe was back on the track for the 100m hurdles quarterfinal looking to duplicate Friday’s performance and punch her ticket to Eugene. Thorpe was back in lane eight and hung with her heat to finish sixth with a 13.63. After the three heats concluded, she was unable to qualify on time.
Up Next
The Irish will head back to South Bend and begin training for the NCAA Outdoor championships. Birzer, DaDamio, Annie Heffernan, Harris, Nate Richartz and Anna Rohrer will compete in Eugene on June 6-9 in hopes of earning All-American honors and bringing an individual title back to Notre Dame.
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Matt Paras, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since January 2018. In his role, he coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s lacrosse and cross country/track & field programs. A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Paras is a graduate of the University of Louisville where he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sport Administration. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, he worked at Vanderbilt University as the sports information contact for the women’s soccer and lacrosse programs.