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Keys to the Race: Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational

Sept. 27, 2017

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By Megan Golden

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame returns to Burke Golf Course for the 62nd annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational at 1 p.m. ET on Friday. The meet kicks off with the varsity “blue” races and concludes with the open “gold” races on its home course.

The Irish will host 51 schools, including 42 men’s teams and 47 women’s teams. The Joe Piane Invitational has been one of the country’s most elite regular-season meets for years, but this year’s meet will feature arguably its most competitive field.

The men’s and women’s teams will face their first true test of the season on Friday, when 11 ranked opponents travel to Notre Dame. The men’s field includes five ranked opponents in No. 4 Colorado, No. 11 Washington State, No. 13 Southern Utah, No. 29 Eastern Michigan and No. 30 NC State. For the No. 12 Irish women, the field will be even more challenging as it includes seven ranked teams and four top-10 teams: No. 1 Colorado, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 7 NC State and No. 9 Arkansas.

WHAT: Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
WHEN: 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 29
WHERE: Burke Golf Course
TWITTER: @NDXCTF

Meet History

This weekend’s meet will be the 62nd annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational. The Irish men own 16 first-place team finishes (over 60 years), while the women have won five of 29 meets as a team. Nine Irish men and seven women have been crowned individual champions in the meet’s history.

Last season, the Notre Dame women placed eighth overall at the Joe Piane Invitational. Then-sophomore Anna Rohrer led the Irish with a first-place individual finish and personal record (16:11.7) at the meet. Sophomore Annie Heffernan also recorded a personal record in last year’s race, finishing with a 16:47.1 mark.

Irish Lineup

Blue Men’s Race:
Andrew Alexander
Tyler Keslin
Yared Nuguse
Kevin Pulliam
Ryan Schweizer
Connor Sheryak
Bradley Wattleworth
Vincent Zona

Blue Women’s Race:
Rachel DaDamio
Kaitlin Frei
Jessica Harris
Annie Heffernan
Anna Sophia Keller
Claudia Magnussen

Open Men’s Race:
John Flannery
Dustin Macuiba

Open Women’s Race:
Alexis Daugherty
Emily Franz
Kelly Hart
Samantha Murray
Madison Ronzone
Erin Sullivan
Brooke Trossen

Admission to all Irish cross country meets is free and open to the public.

For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Irish cross country program, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter and @NDXCTF on Instagram.

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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.