Notre Dame track & field: Irish teams place third

The Notre Dame men’s and women’s track teams each finished third in their inaugural appearance at the ACC indoor championships in Clemson, S.C.

The women finished with 65 points behind Florida State (96.5) and Duke (83).

Jade Barber raced to a victory in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.19 seconds. Kelly Curran placed third in the mile with a time of 4:43.39. Both Curran and Barber earned all-ACC honors.

The results of the men’s championship came down to the final event of the day — the 1,600 relay. Florida State held just a six-point lead over Notre Dame, which had a three-point edge on North Carolina.

In a heartbreaking turn of events for the Irish, Jarrod Buchanon dropped the baton while in the lead of the second leg of the race. This sealed Notre Dame’s position in third place (84 points).

J.P. Malette placed second in both the mile (4:09.58) and the 3,000 (8:16.33), while Chris Giesting had a banner day for the Irish as well. He and Patrick Feeney were first (46.43) and second (46.54) in the 400, respectively, then Giesting went on to place second in the 200 with a time of 21.31 to earn

Giesting was named track MVP.