Sept. 6, 2014
VALPARAISO, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams opened the season on Friday with strong performances at the Crusader Open in Valparaiso, Ind. Due to inclement weather, the men’s race was shortened to four kilometers, but the Irish adjusted and pulled out a first-place finish on the men’s side.
Sophomores Chris Marco (11:04.2) and Jacob Dumford (11:09.5) came in first and second place, respectively, of 41 runners. Rounding out the Notre Dame top five were three freshmen: John Flannery (11:14.2, fifth), Kevin Pulliam (11:21.3, ninth) and Calvin Kraft (11:21.5, 10th). These performances put Notre Dame ahead of IUPUI and Valparaiso with a score of 24.
On the women’s side, freshmen Sydney Foreman and Kaitlin Frei turned in the best Irish times. Foreman placed fourth of 39 runners in 13:37.7 and Frei came in seventh with a time of 13:49.7.
“The meet was a gauge to see what the current fitness level is for the freshmen and sophomores,” says associate head coach Matt Sparks. “On the men’s side, I was particularly happy with Chris, Jake and John’s performances. It was also a good first college race for Sydney and Kaitlin. I anticipate great improvement in the coming weeks.”
Next up on the schedule, the Irish will host the National Catholic Championships at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Notre Dame Golf Course.
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–