Oct. 1, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame has announced the complete list of entrants, including 17 ranked teams, for the 54th running of the Notre Dame Invitational cross country meet to be held Friday afternoon at the nine-hole Notre Dame Golf Course. The meet will kick off with the Gold Division women’s and men’s races at 2 p.m. (EDT) and 2:45 p.m., respectively, followed by the featured Blue Division races at 4:15 p.m. (women) and 5 p.m. (men).
A total of 47 schools will be sending either or both of their men’s and women’s teams to the Notre Dame Invitational. Among those squads set to participate in Friday’s Blue Division races are 17 teams that are ranked in the top 30 of the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) men’s or women’s polls. Highlighting the men’s field will be No. 11 Tulsa, No. 15 Providence, No. 20 Butler, No. 22 Washington, No. 24 New Mexico, No. 28 Notre Dame and No. 30 Princeton. On the women’s side, No. 1 Washington, No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Princeton, No. 12 Providence, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 15 Florida, No. 22 Penn State, No. 24 Notre Dame, No. 25 New Mexico and No. 27 Rice are featured in the field.
Florida State swept the men’s and women’s Blue Division races last year, and both teams are back to defend their titles. Other previous Notre Dame Invitational winners who will be participating in Friday’s Blue Division races include: Notre Dame men (16 titles; last in 2007), Arizona men (one title in 2006), Notre Dame women (six titles; last in 2003) and Rice women (one title in 2007). Meanwhile, the Gold Division races will feature a mix of schools from NCAA Divisions I, II and III, including BIG EAST Conference member DePaul, Ball State (in the women’s race), Valparaiso, Xavier and three-time Notre Dame Invitational champion Eastern Michigan (1968, ’86 and ’97).
The Notre Dame Invitational is one of the nation’s oldest and largest intercollegiate cross country meets. It was started in 1956 by legendary former Irish head coach and USTFCCCA Hall of Fame member Alex Wilson and has been run continuously ever since. The men’s races originally began as four-mile events before being extended to five miles in 1968, with the 5K women’s race being added in 1987.
Complete results from all of Friday’s races will be available at www.und.com at the conclusion of the meet.
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