September 21, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams both raced to first-place finishes Saturday at the Wolf & Kettle Invitational in Gilberts, Ill. The men finished with 35 points, 16 points ahead of second-place finisher Loyola Chicago, while the women finished with 55 points, just three points ahead of Loyola Chicago. Sophomore Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) finished second overall and first on the team with a time of 25:56. Junior JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) flashed some of the same brilliance which earned her All-America honors her freshman year, as she ran the course in 18:54, outdistancing her nearest competitor by 33 seconds. With the win, Deeter has won six cross country races in her Notre Dame career.

Wolf & Kettle Invit. Recap: On the men’s side, the Irish placed four runners in the top 10 and all seven runners in the top sixteen to easily outdistance the five-team field, which included Loyola Chicago, Drake, Butler and Depaul. Senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.) was right on Shay’s heals as he finished fourth with a time of 26:37. Maxwell’s finish was his highest since winning the 1996 Buckeye Invitational. Freshman Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) ran extremely well in his first collegiate cross country meet placing sixth with a time of 26:51. Senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) rounded-out he top 10 after finishing 10th with a time of 27:01. Sophomore Ted Higgins (Naperville, Ill.) placed 13th with a time of 27:17, and senior Tim Engelhardt (East Syracuse, N.Y.) finished 15th with a time of 27:27 in his first race back from a foot injury which kept him out of competition all last year. On the women’s side, the Irish placed three runners in the top 15, fighting off challenges from Loyola Chicago, Butler, Northwestern, Central Michigan and DePaul. Junior Patti Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) was the second Irish runner across the finish line, taking fourth overall with a time of 19:48. Sophomore Erin Olson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) placed 15th with a time of 20:43. Sophomore Bridget O’Brien (Bloomington, Minn.) placed 16th, and junior Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) finished 23rd to round out the top five finishers for the Irish.

Results from Wolf & Kettle Invitational

Men's Results                 Women's Results1. NOTRE DAME         35      1. NOTRE DAME           552. Loyola Chicago     51      2. Loyola Chicago       583. Drake              69      3. Butler               894. Butler             76      4. Northwestern         925. DePaul            143      5. Central Michigan     96                              6. DePaul              107

National Catholic Championships: For the 19th consecutive year, Notre Dame will play host to the National Catholic Championships this Friday, Sept. 18. The meet will begin at 3:30 p.m. with an open/JV division race, followed by the women’s competition at 4:15 p.m. and the men’s race at 5:00 p.m. Both the Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams will try to continue their respective National Catholic Championship winning streaks. The men will be looking for their fourth consecutive National Catholic crown, which would set a record for most consecutive National Catholic titles won by any school. Irish sophomore Ryan Shay also will attempt to repeat as the individual champion for the Irish after winning last year’s race with a mark of 24:53. The women will be bidding for their third consecutive National Catholic crown, which would equal the record set by Notre Dame from 1992-94 for the most consecutive crowns. Junior JoAnna Deeter also looks to become the first woman to win three consecutive National Catholic individual championships. Last year, she became the first female ever to win two back-to-back National Catholic individual titles, after crossing the finish line in 17:39 and leading the Irish to victory.