Coming off a successful cross country season that featured a berth at the NCAA championship meet, Irish coach Joe Piane and Notre Dame will rejoin the full complement of track and field athletes when they begin their indoor campaign Friday by hosting the Blue and Gold Meet.
The Irish enter the year with what may be their deepest team in a while, but that’s not the only thing that has Piane feeling warm about the upcoming season.
“It’s wonderful indoors because the weather’s always perfect in here,” he said. “We have the biggest indoor track in the country and, boy, we have some pretty good athletes.”
Those returning athletes are some of the nation’s best performers from last year, including several All-Americans and Big East champions. Three-quarters of last year’s All-American distance medley relay team return in senior John Shawel, junior Jeremy Rae and sophomore Patrick Feeney. Senior pole vaulter Kevin Schipper won the Big East last season. With these types of athletes, Notre Dame hopes to turn in strong performances at its two biggest meets of the season.
