Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79478
ND SPORTS From left to right, the distance medley relay team of junior Jeremy Rae, senior Johnathan Shawel, senior Randall Babb and freshman Chris Giesting cap- tured Notre Dame's first indoor track national title in 40 years. Irish Relay Team Claims National Title With only one leg remaining in the national championship of the distance medley relay, Notre Dame senior Randall Babb had the unlikely task of slow- ing himself down. Babb's four-man relay team was out in front of the field when he came to the final stretch of his 800-meter contribution, and he knew that the anchor, junior Jeremy Rae, ran better with a pacer in front of him. So he pulled up, Rae retook the lead, and the Irish won a national title. The distance medley relay is one of a kind. The race, which is not run during on it. Giesting runs the fastest split in his group, finishing in just more than 46 seconds to put Babb in control of the second half of the race. 3:43.49 — Giesting passes the baton to Babb, who settles into his 800-me- the outdoor season, combines four legs that vary from 400 meters to a mile to test the versatility and well roundedness of an entire team. Senior Johna- than Shawel and freshman Chris Giesting joined Rae and Babb to complete the smorgasbord of speed in 9:35.48 and give Notre Dame its first indoor national title in 40 years. Here is how it unfolded: 0:00 — The first leg is crucial. Shawel, who normally runs the mile or 1,500 meters outdoors, starts for the Irish in the initial 1,200 meters. Eleven other teams try to spread out across a cramped six-lane track. Getting out in front of the traffic can give a team several valuable seconds during the first two baton exchanges. Shawel found that out last year when he laid back at the start and got trapped. The Irish finished in fourth. "I learned from my mistakes last year," the native Californian said. "Getting a lead really helped my other teammates out, and that opened the race for us." This year Shawel crosses the line first and passes the baton to Giesting with plenty of daylight. 2:57.46 — Giesting, the freshman 400-meter sprinter, is less than a year re- ter pace. He rarely even sees Giesting or Rae during practice throughout the year because he falls between the sprinters and the long haulers. But, they are working like a well-oiled machine March 10 with an NCAA title on the line. With 100 meters to go, he catches a glimpse of his competitors from Ohio State and Arkansas behind him on the JumboTron. He slows and lets them carry him to the exchange with Rae. "All the teams were within two seconds of each other — all 11 on the field," he said. "It was going to be competitive no matter what, but we knew we had all the pieces to have a championship team. When I handed off in third place, I figured we were in pretty darn good position to win it." 5:34.83 — Rae is feeling pretty darn good as well when he takes over. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS moved from starring as the point guard on Batesville High School's basketball team in the southeast corner of Indiana. He gave up hoops for a much more promising future on the track and will likely join Notre Dame's 4x400-meter relay in the spring. With the shortest leg of the race, his goal is to maintain the lead. He builds 56 APRIL 2012 Babb put him exactly where he asked to be before the race. The junior from Ontario set a meet record in the mile at the famous Penn Relays as a senior in high school. He has already run a sub-four-minute mile in competition this year and has one of the best closing kicks in the country. He's in perfect position to reel in the victory. "The cool part about the indoor season is we focus a lot on this distance medley. It's more of a team concept," he said. "You need to be really strong at all the distances." Rae takes over the lead when he makes the turn for the final quarter mile and knows he won't be caught. He crosses the finish line in just more than four minutes, with the miler from Indiana nipping at his heels. The time was a Notre Dame record and earned the school's first title for any track event in more than a decade. — Dan Murphy BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED