Notre Dame record-setting DMR team heads list of honorees
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Notre Dame men’s distance medley relay team has been recognized as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Track Performers of the Week after setting an ACC record and earning a No. 1 national ranking during last weekend’s competition.
The Fighting Irish are joined by ACC Men’s Field Performer of the Week Deakin Volz of Virginia Tech, Women’s Track Performer of the Week Jayla Kirkland of Florida State, and Women’s Field Performer of the Week Lauren Evans of NC State.
The conference weekly honors are the final ones of the 2018-19 Indoor regular season as teams turn their attention to this week’s ACC Indoor Championships at Virginia Tech (Thursday through Saturday). Outdoor weekly awards will begin in mid-March.
A glance at this week’s honorees:
Indoor Men’s Track Performers of the Week
Notre Dame DMR Team
The Irish DMR team of Dylan Jacobs, Edward Cheatham, Samuel Voelz and Yared Nuguse finished with an NCAA season-best time of 9:26.10 Saturday afternoon at the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invite. Their splits combined for the second-best NCAA finish ever recorded, just 0.12 seconds shy of the record. Jacobs led the group off, finishing his 1,200m leg in 2:55 when he handed the baton to Cheatham in the 400m portion. He finished the second leg in 47 seconds before freshman Voelz ran the 800m in 1:48.50. Nuguse served as anchor for the team as he shattered his previous best mile time by nearly seven seconds, crossing the finish in 3:54.40.
Indoor Women’s Track Performer of the Week
Jayla Kirkland, Florida State
Kirkland rolled to a personal-best time of 23.00 (altitude adjusted 23.07) in the Texas Tech Matador to finish fourth out of a field of 31 sprinters at the lightning-fast Sports Performance Center. The Birmingham, Alabama, native not only lowered her ACC-leading time, but is now tied for ninth on the national descending order list, virtually clinching her first NCAA Indoor Championships appearance in that event. It is the second-fastest time in FSU history, trailing only teammate Ka’Tia Seymour’s 22.85 from the 2018 ACC Indoor Championships.
Indoor Men’s Field Performer of the Week
Deakin Volz, Virginia Tech
Volz, a senior from Bloomington, Indiana, won the men's pole vault with a top mark of 5.50 meters (18 feet, 0.5 inch) at last weekend’s Virginia Tech Challenge. Volz’s clearance ranks 15th nationally, tied for the second-best vault in the nation last week and stands as the best mark in the ACC this season.
Indoor Women’s Field Performer of the Week
Lauren Evans, NC State
Evans earned her third ACC weekly honor of the season after she continued her impressive 2018-19 campaign at the Virginia Tech Challenge with her 14th and 15th podium finishes in 16 events. Evans claimed the shot put title with a 51-2.25 (15.60m) mark that stands as the fourth-best in program history. She added a weight throw of 66-7 (20.29m) that earned another gold medal. Evans will enter the ACC Championships with 12 first-place finishes on the season.