Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 APRIL 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY DAVID MCKINNEY T he Notre Dame men's distance med- ley relay team captured the pro- gram's fourth indoor track and field NCAA title March 8, when the Fight- ing Irish crossed the finish line with a time of 9:31.55. Freshman Dylan Jacobs began the race for the Irish, recording a 1,200-me- ter split of 2:57.48 before passing the baton to senior Edward Cheatham, who finished the 400-meter split with a time of 48.17. Cheatham handed off to sophomore Samuel Voelz for the 800-meter leg, and his time of 1:49.89 had the team in sixth place heading into the final 1,600 meters, run by sophomore Yared Nuguse. Nuguse's split of 3:56.03 was his sec- ond-fastest mile time of the season and was good enough to put the Irish in first place and secure the championship. "When I'm doing it for my team out there I give it all that I have," Nuguse said. "It paid off tonight." Irish assistant coach Sean Carlson said that with the win, the four Irish runners showed the country what Notre Dame is all about. "I'm incredibly proud of these guys for buying in to each other, our pro- gram and Notre Dame," Carlson noted. "These guys represent everything about the culture of our program and what we have been building here." The win marked Notre Dame's sec- ond NCAA distance medley relay title in program history, with the previous crown coming in 2012. The Irish have also earned indoor NCAA titles in the 600-yard run (Rick Wohlhuter, 1970) and the 55-meter hurdles (Tom Mc- Mannon, 1972). ✦ Men's Track Distance Medley Relay Wins National Championship MEN'S LACROSSE (3-1, 0-0 ACC) No. 7 Notre Dame began the 2019 campaign with three wins in four out- ings. Following a 19-6 beat-down of Detroit Mercy in the season opener Feb. 16, the Fighting Irish suffered a 9-8 loss at unranked Richmond Feb. 23. However, they bounced back to knock off then No. 2 Maryland 14-13 in South Bend March 3, before taking down then No. 8 Denver 10-7 in the Pacific Coast Shootout March 9 at Costa Mesa, Calif. Up next for the Fighting Irish were trips to No. 12 Virginia March 16 and Michigan March 19, before returning home to face No. 9 Ohio State March 23 and No. 13 Syracuse March 30. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (6-0, 1-0 ACC) The No. 19 Fighting Irish ran their season-opening win streak to six, with victories at Liberty (14-10) Feb. 17, at Ohio State (19-10) Feb. 22, versus Kent State (27-0) Feb. 24 and against Louisville (16-4) in their ACC opener March 2. Notre Dame finished the month of March with contests at Virginia Com- monwealth March 13, at No. 5 Virginia March 16, versus Vanderbilt March 20, at No. 4 Syracuse March 23 and versus No. 3 North Carolina March 31. SOFTBALL (13-7, 0-0 ACC) Notre Dame has won seven straight and 11 of its last 14 contests, dating back to a 6-0 triumph over No. 18 Oklahoma State at the St. Pete Clearwater Invitational Feb. 15 in Clearwater, Fla. After contests at Florida Atlantic March 12 and Florida International March 13, the Fighting Irish begin ACC play with a three-game series at Florida State March 15-17, followed by three-game sets versus Louisville March 22-24 and at Syracuse March 29-31. They also will play single games against Illinois- Chicago March 20 and Western Michigan March 27. BASEBALL (6-8, 2-1 ACC) After opening the season by getting outscored 46-13 in a three-game sweep at No. 25 Arizona State Feb. 15-17, Notre Dame alternated wins and losses over its next 11 contests. That included starting ACC play by taking two of three — a 7-4 win followed by a 7-4 loss and an 8-7 victory — from Wake Forest March 9-10 in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Fighting Irish close out March with a single game at Western Carolina March 13, followed by three-game sets at Clemson March 15-17 and versus Florida State March 22-24, a single contest against Chicago State March 26 and another three-game series at Georgia Tech March 29-31. HOCKEY (20-13-3, 11-11-2 BIG TEN) The No. 16 Fighting Irish finished the regular season with four wins in seven contests to secure second place in the Big Ten standings with an 11-11-2 mark and 37 points. No. 2 seed Notre Dame hosted No. 7 seed Michigan State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament March 9-10, and swept the best-of-three series with the Spartans thanks to 1-0 and 2-0 victories. Notre Dame was set to face No. 3 seed Minnesota in the single-elimination semifinals March 16 in South Bend. A win there would put the Irish in the winner-take-all Big Ten title game against either No. 1 seed Ohio State or No. 4 seed Penn State March 23. The NCAA Tournament begins play March 29 and wraps up with the Frozen Four April 11 and 13 in Buffalo, N.Y. — David McKinney Irish Roundup Through March 10 From left to right, freshman Dylan Jacobs, sophomore Yared Nuguse, senior Edward Cheatham and sophomore Samuel Voelz captured the fourth NCAA title in Irish men's indoor track and field history. PHOTO BY WALT MIDDLETON