[caption id="attachment_71635" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Michelle Finn. "]
Western Kentucky’s Michelle Finn won one event and produced two other top-three finishes at last weekend’s Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Lafayette, La. Finn, a senior from Cork, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a meet record 10:18.85, which eclipsed the previous standard by more than 12 seconds. A gap of 35 seconds elapsed between the time Finn broke the tape and the runner-up arrived.
Finn also got second place in the 5,000 meters, running the course in 17:04.87, behind only Arkansas State’s Kristina Aubert in 17:00.59. Finn ran third at 1,500 meters, needing 4:37.94 to finish a race won by Sara Dietz of North Texas in 4:34.54.
Western Kentucky’s Anna Reddin, a freshman from Sligo, took seventh place in the 10,000-meter race. She was along in 37:48.03 in a race won by Aubert in 35:47.13. Reddin also came in 17th in the 5,000 meters, with an 18:51.79 clocking.
Stony Brook’s Patricia Barry finished second in the women’s 10,000 meters at the ECAC meet in Princeton, N.J. The junior from Co. Tipperary got in at 35:22.87, with only Army’s Lisa Junta in front of her. Junta finished in 35:17.90.
TENNIS
Stanford advanced through the first two rounds of the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Tournament with victories over Sacramento State, 4-0, and Santa Clara, 4-1. John Morrissey handled chores at third singles for Stanford in dispatching Sacramento’s Javier Millan, 6-0, 6-0, and at fourth singles against Santa Clara’s Tom Pham, in which he rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory. Morrissey, a freshman from Dublin, joined Bradley Klahn for victories at second doubles over Sacramento’s Sean Kolar and Tom Miller, 8-1, and Santa Clara’s Pham and Kyle Dandan, 9-7. Stanford, ranked 11th, next faces no. 6 Kentucky in the round of 16 on Friday in Athens, Ga.
Notre Dame’s season ended with a 4-0 loss to Ohio State in second-round action in the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Irish advanced with a 4-2 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. Niall Fitzgerald produced a 6-2, 6-2 win at fifth singles over Joe Dorn. Earlier, the Co. Wicklow senior and Casey Watt lost at first doubles, 8-3, to Alex DiValerio and Gonzales Austin. Fitzgerald and Watt lost by a similar 8-3 score on Sunday to the Buckeyes’ Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, the top-ranked doubles team in collegiate tennis. Fitzgerald’s singles match with Devin McCarthy was headed to a third set when Ohio State clinched on another court.
GOLF
Alabama’s Stephanie Meadow tied for 14th place in the NCAA Division 1 Women’s East Regional at Penn State’s Blue Course in State College, Pa. Meadow, a sophomore from Jordanstown, Co. Antrim, finished four strokes over par at 220 (74-72-74), which left her seven strokes off the low number posted by Katerina Ruzickova of Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide, which finished joint-4th among teams, qualified for the finals beginning May 22 at The Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.
They won’t be joined by Denver and Sarah Faller, which contested the West Regional at Colorado National in Erie, Colo. Faller, a Galway senior, closed out her collegiate career by finishing joint-98th at 18-over-par 234 (77-79-78). Denver finished 19th among the 24 teams on the course. Medal honors went to Catherine O’Donnell of North Carolina, who shot 209.
Barton’s Dermot McElhennon and Carson-Newman’s Liam Ashby joined five competitors in joint-63rd place at the NCAA Division 2 Men’s South Regional at the Rock Barn in Conover, N.C. They both shot 11-over-par 227. McElhennon, a sophomore from New Bern, N.C., with roots in Draperstown, Co. Derry, carded rounds of 70, 75 and 82. Ashby, a senior from Dublin, shot rounds of 79, 74 and 74. Barton tied for 12th place in the team scramble, while Carson-Newman placed 15th. Matt Atkins of South Carolina-Aiken was low man on the course at 210.
