Notre Dame and Miami dominate Big East Champs

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Miami swept the top three spots in the women's 200 meters leading the Hurricanes to the Big East meet title
The 2003 Big East Indoor Championships took place in Syracuse, N.Y. as the Notre Dame men and Miami women came away with the team titles on the afternoon. Results from day one on Saturday included freshman Spyridon Jullien of Virginia Tech winning the weight throw with his Big East conference record mark of 71-03.25. Jullien's winning throw also moves him to third in the nation. Another freshman, Tim Moore of Notre Dame, won the 5000 meters with his time of 14:26.78.

The Villanova men proved why their distance program is strong by cruising to a 9:53.86 victory in the DMR. Already earning a spot at the NCAA Championships in Arkansas, Julie Spolidoro of Boston College won the 5000 meters with her time of 16:45.19.

The Notre Dame women broke the Big East meet record in the DMR with their time of 11:24.45. Jamie Volkmer of Notre Dame kept the meet records rolling with her performance of 13-01.50 in the pole vault. Johvonne Hernandez of Syracuse won the weight throw with her toss of 63-04.25.

The final day of competition on Sunday had many great performances. Roisin McGettigan of Providence started the day off with a victory in the 1000 meters with her time of 2:48.28. "The race felt good, however, the track felt nothing compared to the one at Boston University," McGettigan said. "I'm very happy how the race went as it went out nice and fast in the beginning and it didn't drop off that much near the end."

The 200-meter flat track at Syracuse is not as fast compared to some of the other luxurious indoor facilities in the nation as McGettigan agreed. "The track is not that fast at all," McGettigan went on to say. "However, you can't really use that as an excuse on how you perform at a championship meet like this."

Ryan Hayden of Villanova took home the 1000 meters to lead off the day for the men with his time of 2:27.08. "The race felt pretty good even thought it was a slow pace," said Hayden. "I wanted to make my move with 200 meters to go and it worked out well in the end."

Hayden's main event is the mile run in which he has already qualified for the national meet at Arkansas. "I probably won't run the mile again until Arkansas," Hayden said. "We go to Notre Dame in a couple weeks and I'll pace some of my buddies in the mile run there but I won't complete it."

Lauren Williams of Miami nearly broke the Big East meet record in the 60 meters with her time of 7.31. Williams then took second behind teammate Charlette Greggs in the 200 meters as Miami also swept the top three places to score 24 points in the event alone.

Tameisha King held off a strong field in the 60 meter hurdles to take the title in 8.39. "I had to regroup for this race as my main event is the long jump and I was a little upset because I didn't do as well as I wanted," King said. "I just wanted to come out here, do well for my team and set a personal best in the event, which I did. I tried to stay focus and be aggressive the whole race and I'm happy that I came out with the win."

Hometown favorites Johvonne Hernandez and Tim Adrian of Syracuse won the shot put titles as Hernandez threw 52-10 and Adrian had a mark of 58-04.50.

Adrian Blincoe of Villanova won the men's 3000 meters in 8:11.61

The mile run saw two Notre Dame athletes take the title as Lauren King and Luke Watson came away with the victories for the Irish. King's time of 4:46.90 won by nearly six seconds over the next competitor. Watson held off Georgetown freshman Chris Lukezic with his time of 4:12.85.

One of the more exciting events of the day came from the men's 400 meters as Joe Mendel of Connecticut claimed the title in 47.68. "I was real nervous after only coming in third after the first lap but I had enough left in me to come around the last 100 meters to pull off the victory," Mendel said.

Marvin Regis of Seton Hall sprinted through the 200 meters with his title time of 21.26. "The plan was to get out as fast as I could the first 60 meters then hold it for just a bit until I came around the final turn," Regis said. "I now want to get some more work in at practice, give my body a rest next week and then get ready for the next big meet."

The women's 3000 meters saw two NCAA auto performances as Megan Metcalfe of West Virginia held off Molly Huddle of Notre Dame. "The race went very well as I tried to stay with Huddle the whole time and simply try to out kick her in the end, Metcalfe said. "It didn't work last time for me, so I was a little nervous about the strategy."

Adrian Blincoe of Villanova was simply too strong for the rest of the field in the men's 3000 meters as he took home the title in 8:11.61. The Notre Dame trio of Luke Watson, Tim Moore and John Keane all came in second through fourth, respectively.

The Seton Hall men capped off the competition with their victory in the 4x400 meter relay as they clocked 3:13.87.