The loaded DMRs at Alex Wilson delivered on their promise to provide the best relay action of the 2015 season, with several teams locking down NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday in South Bend. With 12 teams earning a bid to nationals next month in Fayetteville based on a descending order list, the pressure was on at the Loftus Sports Center for those teams near the NCAA cutoff. 

 

The women’s race brought the fireworks to kick off the DMRs, with the Baylor women scoring an impressive victory in 10:58.52, currently the the 2nd fastest mark of 2015. The ladies from Waco used a strong 800m leg from Olicia Williams (#2 in 800m) and a solid anchor from Maggie Montoya to dominate the field in South Bend. Their winning time on Saturday is a new Baylor school record. 

 

The Bears will face stiff competition from Georgetown at nationals next month (currently #1 in NCAA), but they are happy right where they’re at. “We like being the underdogs,” said anchor leg Mariah Kelly.

 

Also punching their tickets to NCAAs were the teams from New Mexico, Notre Dame, and Michigan. Two groups that are now squarely on the bubble for NCAAs are Purdue and Clemson, who both ran 11:07 on Saturday and are 11th and 12th ranked in the country, respectively. 

 

The men’s relays were split into two heats to accommodate the depth in South Bend. In heat 1, defending NCAA champions Stanford used a strong anchor leg from redshirt freshman Sean McGorty to storm past the competition in 9:29.34, well under the pseudo qualifying mark of 9:31.5 that denotes the “last team in” historically. The Cardinal left Notre Dame with their mission accomplished. “Today was all about getting the job done,” said senior Luke Lefebure. 

 

The Iowa State Cyclones finished 2nd in heat 1 in 9:31.85, squarely on the bubble for NCAAs and currently ninth in the country.

 

In heat 2, the Arkansas men used a 3:57 anchor leg from Kemoy Campbell en route to a 9:28.37 final time to record the fastest time of the weekend. The Razorbacks had previously run 9:32 coming into Saturday, on the bubble, but left no doubt by running the fourth fastest time of 2015 in South Bend. 

 

The boys from Fayetteville will host NCAAs next month, and should be right in the thick of things in the team competition. Their performance today checked a very crucial box for the home team. 

 

A surprise team under 9:30 was Alabama. The Crimson Tide aren’t known for their distance pedigree, but they placed 2nd in South Bend in 9:29.93, fifth best in 2015. Senior Matt Airola anchored ‘Bama with a strong 3:59 leg. 

 

The women’s mile was the surprise event of the afternoon, as former Michigan runner Becca Addison ran a meet and facility record of 4:30.70 to beat World indoor bronze medalist Nicole Sifuentes. Addison was a part of Michigan’s NCAA champion DMR in 2013, and is currently unsponsored in her second post-collegiate season. Addison set her previous PR of 4:35.95 one year ago on the same track at the Meyo Invite.