Oct. 31, 1997

Notre Dame's Men's Cross Country Wins BIG EAST Championship, Women Take Fourth

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Notre Dame's ninth-ranked men's cross country team placed four runners in the top 11 and five in the top 20 to win its first BIG EAST championships in its third year in the BIG EAST conference. After a third-place finish in 1995 and fourth in 1995, head coach Joe Piane guided the Irish to their first conference crown at Van Cortland Park, in Bronx, N.Y. Notre Dame finished with 50 points, outdistancing two-time defending champion Providence who finished with 74 points. Georgetown was third with 82 points.

"We told our runners that they had to be aggressive the first mile and had to dominate race," said Piane. "That's exactly what they did. There were just 36 seconds between our first and fifth runner."

On the women's side, Notre Dame turned in its best performance since joining the conference after placing seventh in 1995 and fifth in 1996. A balanced attack helped the Irish outdistance all but the three ranked teams in the BIG EAST. Sixth-ranked Providence, 10th-ranked Georgetown and 11th-ranked Boston College took the top three spots. Sophomore All-American JoAnna Deeter was the top finisher for the Irish as she placed 16th in 18:14. Sophomore Alison Klemmer was 18th in 18:16. Villanova's Carrie Tollefson won the individual title in 16:54.

Senior All-American Jason Rexing, runnerup at the 1996 BIG EAST championships, led the Irish pack to the finish line with his fourth-place finish in 25:06. Junior Antonio Arce was two seconds behind Rexing in fifth place. Junior Ryan Maxwell and freshman Ryan Shay placed 10th and 11th in 25:22 and 25:24. Connecticut's Travis Landreth won the men's race in 24:49.

"Jason and Antonio ran expectionally well for us," said Piane. "Ryan Maxwell ran the way he's capable of running. Ryan Shay and Anthony Alt finished four and five, which is exceptional for a pair of freshmen."

Depth won the race for the Irish as Notre Dame, Providence and Georgetown had nearly identical scores after the first two runners. The three through five runners sealed the title for the Irish, scoring just 41 points from three-five compared to Providence's 63 and Georgetown's 72. Notre Dame dethroned two-time defending championship Providence who finished with 74 points, after winning with 76 points in 1996.

The win marked the second BIG EAST title for Notre Dame this year after the Irish claimed the conference golf title earlier in the season.

BIG EAST Men's Cross Country Championships
1.  Notre Dame       4   5  10  11  20   50
2.  Providence       2   9  14  18  31   74
3.  Georgetown       3   7  21  23  28   82
4.  West Virginia    8  12  16  25  41  102
5.  Boston College  17  19  22  24  35  117
6.  Villanova        6  13  15  40  54  128
7.  Connecticut      1  26  34  50  55  166
8.  Seton Hall      27  39  51  72  76  265
9.  Syracuse        48  49  61  63  64  285
10.  Rutgers        47  57  62  65  71  302
11.  Pittsburgh     43  58  66  68  73  308
12.  Miami          42  52  70  77  83  324
13.  St. John's     29  59  74  79  86  327
Top 10 Men's Finishers
1.  Travis Landreth, Connecticut    24:49
2.  Ben Noad, Providence            25:00
3.  Justin McCarthy, Georgetown     25:04
4.  Jason Rexing, Notre Dame        25:06
5.  Antonio Arce, Notre Dame        25:08
6.  Dean Smith, Villanova           25:09
7.  Eric Savoth, Georgetown         25:10
8.  Mac Knapp, West Virginia        25:11
9.  Zack Ventress, Providence       25:18
10.  Ryan Maxwell, Notre Dame       25:22
11.  Ryan Shay, Notre Dame          25:24
20.  Anthony Alt, Notre Dame        25:42