Oct. 3, 2000
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Irish Prepare to Run with the Best:
The Notre Dame men's and women's cross country teams, each boasting two team titles heading into the third meet of the season, are not about to relax and enjoy their previous victories. The Irish will face some of the nation's stiffest competition breezing into South Bend on Friday for the 45th annual Notre Dame Invitational.
Six of the top-25 men's squads will be racing on the Burke Memorial Golf Course on Notre Dame's campus Friday, Oct. 6, namely Arizona, North Carolina State, Eastern Michigan, Duke and Stanford, among other top-flight competition.
The women's squad also faces an equally tough field, with teams from Ball State, Duke, North Carolina State, Michigan and #1 Stanford.
Notre Dame's men's squad won the Notre Dame Invitational team titles for a six-year stretch from 1990 to 1995, but finished second in the '98 running of the ND Invite, and third in '99. Luke Watson, the junior who has taken over as the Irish top runner, finished 19th (23:53) in '98 and seventh in '99 (24:10).
Notre Dame's women won the '99 Notre Dame Invitational over second place Missouri by 16 points. Sophomore Jennifer Handley took sixth (17:36), the sole woman returning to the 2000 Notre Dame squad that finished in the top 50. (Graduated seniors JoAnna Deeter and Alison Klemmer took first and third, respectively).
But the recent success of both Irish harrier squad has been due in large part to the strong running of their freshmen and sophomore runners. Three of the women's top-10 finishes at the recent National Catholic (where both Irish teams finished first) came from two freshmen (Megan Johnson and Rachel Endress) and a sophomore (Muffy Schmidt).
On the men's side, freshmen David Alber and Brian Kerwin were the fourth- and fifth-place finishers for the Irish at the National Catholic (in 19th and 21st, respectively.)
Notre Dame Invitational Gold Division Race:
The Notre Dame Invitational is also featuring a Men's Gold Division race at 2:45 p.m.
The following is a list of the teams participating in the Gold Division race:
Youngstown State
Heidelberg
Wabash
UW-Oshkosh
Chicago
Hillsdale
RIT
UW-Green Bay
Akron
Arkansas State
Slippery Rock
Siena Heights
Calvin
Anderson
UW-Parkside
Indiana Wesleyan
UW-Stevens Point
Augustana
Teams Participating in the
45th Notre Dame Invitational
Women's Varsity Race:
1. Wisconsin Green-Bay
2.Slippery Rock
3. Anderson
4. Youngstown St.
5. Miami
6. Purdue
7. Ball State (25)
8. Houston
9. Adams State
10. Cincinnati
11. Western Michigan
12. Florida State
13. NOTRE DAME
14. N.C. State (5)
15. Duke (24)
16. Windsor
17. Michigan (13)
18. Stanford (1)
19. Calvin
20. Northwestern
21. Indiana
22. Akron
23. Butler
24. Arizona (15)
25. Malone
26. Arkansas State
27. Bowling Green
28. Kent State
29. Hillsdale
30. Ohio State
31. Eastern Michigan
Men's Varsity Race:
4. Eastern Michigan (24)
5. Purdue
6. Truman State
7. Adams State
8. Butler
9. N.C. State (8)
10. Houston
11. Cincinnati
12. Arizona (10)
13. Duke (23)
14. Western Michigan
15. Stanford (2)
16. Indiana
17. Ball State
18. NOTRE DAME (22)
19. North Central
20. Kent State
21. Windsor
22. Florida State
23. Bowling Green
24. Ohio State
25. Malone
Note: Numbers indicate starting boxes at the course.
( ) - indicates ranking as of Oct. 3.
Notre Dame Invitational Schedule:
2:45 p.m. - Men's Gold Division Race
3:30 p.m. - Open Race (Men and Women)
4:15 p.m. - Women's Varsity Race
5:00 p.m. - Men's Varsity Race
Notre Dame Invitational Results:
Results will be available as soon as possible after the meet on the University of Notre Dame's official athletic website, www.und.com. If needed, results can be faxed on a case-by-case basis, please contact Alan Wasielewski in the Notre Dame Sports Information office via e-mail, Wasielewski.3@nd.edu, or phone at 219-631-3397.
