Oct. 13, 2007
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The No. 7 ranked Notre Dame men’s cross country team finished fifth with 261 points in the 8K White Race at the Pre-Nationals competition on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The team’s finish is its fifth-consecutive top-five finish at Pre-Nationals on the course that the NCAA Championship will be run on come Nov. 19. The Irish fell behind UTEP who took the crown and coming into the race was in a tie for the 20th position in the national rankings.
Coming in first for Notre Dame was Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial) to take fifth-place in the highly competitive field. His time of 23:18 bettered his time from 2006 on the same course by over 30 seconds (23:49).
Senior Jake Watson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) was the next runner in for the Irish, finishing 17th overall with a time of 23:43. Josh McDougal of Liberty took the individual crown with a time of 22:57. McDougal also took the crown at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago, beating out Smyth.
The women’s cross country team finished 15th of 38 teams with 393 points in the 6K Blue Race. Sophomore Lindsey Ferguson (Greenfield Center, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) finished in 37th place as the first Irish runner to cross the finish line.
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Pre-Nationals Oct. 13, 2007 Terre Haute, Ind. • LaVern Gibson Championship Course/Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
MEN’S WHITE DIVISION 8,000-METER RACE
Team Results (top five of 40): 1. UTEP 129; 2. Colorado 155; 3. North Carolina St. 182; 4. Michigan 208; 5. Notre Dame 261
Individual Results (top five of 273 plus Notre Dame finishers): :1. Josh McDougal (Liberty) 22:57; 2. Jacob Korir (Eastern Kentucky) 23:00; 3. Stephen Pifer (Colorado) 23:26; 4. Brent Vaughn (Colorado) 23:16; 5. Patrick Smyth (Notre Dame) 23:18; 17. Jake Watson (Notre Dame) 23:42; 47. Jake Walker (Notre Dame) 24:03; 93. Brett Adams (Notre Dame) 24:26; 99. Dan Jackson (Notre Dame) 24:28; 118. Mike Popejoy (Notre Dame) 24:41; 240. Paul Springer (Notre Dame) 26:01.
WOMEN’S BLUE DIVISION 6,000-METER RACE
Team Results (top five of 38 plus Notre Dame): :1. Stanford 102; 2. Florida State 123; 3. Michigan State 178; 4. Minnesota 192; 5. Georgetown 210; 15. Notre Dame 393
Individual Results (top five of 259 plus Notre Dame finishers):: 1. Susan Kuijken (Florida State) 19:55; 2. Teresa McWalters (Stanford) 20:00; 3. Arianna Lambie (Stanford) 20:01; 4. Emily Harrison (Virgina) 20:04; 5. Melissa Grelli (Georgetown) 20:13; 37. Lindsey Ferguson (Notre Dame) 21:03; 40. Marissa Treece (Notre Dame) 21:07; 81. Ann Mazur (Notre Dame) 21:30; 104. Emily Wauford (Notre Dame) 21:47; 131. Abby Higgins (Notre Dame) 22:05; 166. Beth Tacl (Notre Dame) 22:27; 199. Amy Kohlmeier (Notre Dame) 22:54.