Nov. 3, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - - The Notre Dame men's cross country team won its second BIG EAST title in three years at the BIG EAST championships last Friday at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. Junior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) won the men's individual 8K title and head coach Joe Piane was named BIG EAST men's coach of the year. The women, who finished fifth, were paced by senior Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) who placed a career-best fourth in the 5K race.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: Shay became the first Notre Dame runner to win the BIG EAST individual title since the Irish began BIG EAST competition in 1995. His winning time of 24:22 was the third-fastest in course history.
Notre Dame had six runners place in the top 20, while all 12 men's harriers recorded career-best finishes at the BIG EAST meet. Sophomore Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) finished third in the race with a time of 24:36, senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished ninth (24:59), sophomore Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.) was 11th (25:02), senior John Dudley (Westwood, Mass.) finished 19th (25:33) and senior Sean McManus (Hernando, Fla.) 20th (25:35). Shay, Watson, Maxwell and Striowski earned all-BIG EAST honors (top 15) for their performances.
Coach Joe Piane, in his 25th season as head coach, was named the BIG EAST men's coach of the year for the second time. He also won the award in 1997 when the Irish captured their first BIG EAST team title also at Van Cortlandt Park.
The women bounced back from a disappointing finish at the pre-national meet with some impressive performances. Klemmer had her career-best finish at the BIG EAST championships, placing fourth in 17:39. Freshman Jennifer Handley (Barrie, Ont.) continued her outstanding rookie season, earning all-conference honors along with Klemmer for her 12th-place finish (17:59). Senior Patty Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) finished 23rd, classmate Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) 26th and junior Chrissy Kuenster (Wheaton, Ill.) was 33rd. The team finished fifth in the 13- team field. The Irish were without the services of senior All-American JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), who missed the BIG EAST championship because of an Achilles injury.
IRISH MOVE UP IN THE POLLS: The men made their first appearance in the top 20 after their third-place finish in the Notre Dame Invitational, Oct. 1. After having not been ranked in the preseason MONDO NCAA poll, the Irish moved up from 17th to 10th following the pre-national meet on October 16th. The BIG EAST team title last weekend raised the Irish up to eighth.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Both varsity teams have two weeks off before heading to the District IV championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The top two teams at the districts receive automatic bids to the NCAA championships, Monday, Nov. 22, in Bloomington, Ind.
BIG EAST Top Team Results
Men
1. Notre Dame 43
2. Georgetown 57
3. Villanova 60
4. Providence 61
5. Boston College 146
Women
1. Georgetown 41
2. Providence 59
3. Villanova 74
4. Boston College 78
5. Notre Dame 98
FinishLynx NCAA Div. I
Women's XC Poll (11/1)
Rk School (First-Place) Pts
1. Stanford (11) 299
2. Arkansas (1) 288
3. BYU 277
4. Colorado 262
5. Wisconsin 253
6. Georgetown 229
7. Kansas State 224
8. North Carolina 217
9. Arizona State 208
10. Washington 199
11. North Carolina State 174
12. James Madison 168
13. William & Mary 157
14. UCLA 142
15. Michigan 128
16. Minnesota 118
17. Providence 107
18. Boston University 98
19. Michigan State 84
20. Northern Arizona 77
21. Missouri 54
22. Villanova 43
23. Nebraska 38
24. Arizona 20
25. Oregon 16
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 1
MONDO NCAA Div. I
Men's XC Poll (11/2)
Rk School (First-Place) Pts
1. Arkansas (16) 400
2. North Carolina St. 380
3. Colorado 364
4. Arizona 356
5. Stanford 335
6. Wisconsin 323
7. Michigan 300
8. Notre Dame 290
9. Georgetown 248
10. James Madison 246
11. Oregon 234
12. BYU 223
13. Villanova 196
14. Northern Arizona 191
15. Arizona State 188
16. Weber State 148
17. William & Mary 131
18. Portland 124
19. Minnesota 103
20. Providence 92
21 Princeton 75
22 Tennessee 67
23 Utah 54
24 Dartmouth 49
25 Southern Mississippi 17
SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER
11 Valparaiso Invitational M 1st
(Valparaiso, IN) W 2nd
17 National Catholic Invitational
M 1st
W 1st
OCTOBER
1 Notre Dame Invitational
M 3rd
W 1st
16 Pre-National Championships
(Bloomington, IN)
M 6th
W 22nd
29 BIG EAST Championship
(Bronx, NY) M 1st
W 5th
NOVEMBER
13 NCAA Great Lakes Region
(Terre Haute, IN) 10:30 a.m.
22 NCAA Championships 10:30 a.m.
(Bloomington, IN)
All times local to site.
