Sept. 16, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the fourth consecutive year and the 12th time in 14 seasons, the third-ranked Notre Dame women’s cross country team ran away with the title at the National Catholic Championships, which were contested Friday afternoon at the on-campus Notre Dame Golf Course. The Irish women held five of the top 16 spots in the 5K race and easily outdistanced second-place Duquesne, 48-101. Meanwhile, the No. 7 Notre Dame men’s cross country team had its streak of 10 consecutive National Catholic crowns snapped when Duquesne edged the Irish by a single point, 45-46, as the Dukes’ fifth and final scoring runner completed the five-mile circuit a mere four seconds before Notre Dame’s last scorer.
The Irish did claim the individual title in both the men’s and women’s races. On the men’s side, freshman Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial) ran superbly in his college debut, cracking the tape in 24:36, a full 14 seconds ahead of Duquesne’s Chris Horvat. Smyth’s victory marks the ninth time in the past 10 years (and 14th time overall) a Notre Dame runner has won the men’s race at the National Catholic Championships. In the women’s event, sophomore All-American Sunni Olding (Minster, Ohio/Minster) was golden in her first race of the season, hitting the line in 17:42 to nip Andrea Rovegno of Loyola (Md.) by one second. Just like the men, Olding’s triumph was the ninth in 10 years for an Irish runner, and the 11th win overall.
Following Olding across the line for Notre Dame was senior Elizabeth Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child), who was sixth in a time of 18:08. Junior Ann Mazur (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) was next in 11th place at 18:24, and senior Jean Marinangeli (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) took 14th place in 18:36. Rounding out the Irish scoring lineup was sophomore Julie Opet (Wayne, Pa./Radnor), who ended up 16th overall in 18:43.
As for the men, sophomore Brett Adams (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) was the second Irish runner to finish, coming home in fourth place (25:20). Classmate Daniel Bradley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s) earned 11th-place honors in 25:32, easing past freshman Chris Rodriguez (Kelso, Wash./Kelso), who was 12th in 25:35. Freshman Mark Moore (Novi, Mich./Novi) completed the Notre Dame scoring quintet in 18th place with a time of 25:51.
The National Catholic Championships were conceived in 1980 by Irish head men’s coach Joe Piane and feature participants from numerous prominent Catholic institutions around the country, representing a cross-section of squads from the NCAA Division I, II and III, and NAIA levels. This year’s three races (men’s and women’s varsity, plus a junior varsity/open event) saw approximately 500 competitors from 35 different schools compete in one of the country’s largest in-season meets.
The nationally-ranked Notre Dame cross country teams will return to action in two weeks on Friday, Sept. 30, when they play host to the 50th anniversary running of the Notre Dame Invitational at the on-campus Notre Dame Golf Course.
— ND —