Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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I BY DAN MURPHY Stovall and Tom Zbikowski — posted one of the team's top 10 times in the 60-meter dash. The following year, only Ellick remained on the track team, and that's because his football days were over. He was the last of many Irish speedsters to spend his offseason on the track — until now. After a seven-year hiatus, the n the winter of 2004, four future NFL players lined up as sprint- ers for Notre Dame's indoor track team. All four — Dwight Ellick, Ryan Grant, Maurice Notre Dame football and track teams have reunited for what they hope will become a long-lasting, symbi- otic relationship. Sophomore Bennett Jackson and freshman twins George and Josh Atkinson ran throughout the indoor season this winter and are expected to join the team out- doors when spring practice is over for football. The players can continue to com- pete and get in shape, and the track team gets an added helping of sprinter speed from some of the school's fastest athletes. Irish track coach Joe Piane said he was thrilled to be receiving a few loans from the football program once again. "The last regime that preceded Coach [Brian] Kelly was not real bullish on us having football players run track, but we've had many track kids in the past," said Piane, who is in his 36th year as a coach at Notre Dame. "We've had a history of foot- ball players running. We can make them faster." While football players learn to run George Atkinson cut more than a half of a second off of his 200-meter time (from 22.01 to 21.47 sec- onds) in February to take third place at the Big East Indoor Championships. hard, track athletes learn to run prop- erly, Piane said. Focusing on shaving away tenths of a second from sprint times forces players to run with bet- ter form. Detailed drills help the run- ners develop fast-twitch muscle fiber more than a typical football workout and improve their flexibility. Jackson and both Atkinsons said they are get- ting faster and believe they will ben- efit from that on the field next fall. George Atkinson III, the fastest of the bunch so far, cut more than a half of a second off of his 200-meter time (from 22.01 to 21.47 seconds) in February to take third place at the Big East Indoor Championships. His brother, Josh, finished two places be- hind him in 21.68 seconds. Josh also placed fifth in the 60-meter sprint. 18 APRIL 2012 With Track BACK the top five hurdlers in the country in high school, finished in ninth place in the 60-meter hurdles at the confer- ence meet. Jackson clocked a 7.72 in the 55-meter hurdles as a senior at Jackson, who was ranked among a mutually beneficial connection with the Irish track and field team Football players rekindle Raritan High School in New Jersey and is working his way back into the low eight-second range at a slightly longer distance this season. Piane said all three have a lot of room to improve before reaching top speed. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS