Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Cross Country Will Play Host To Highly Competitive Notre Dame Inviational

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.