November 16, 1996
Notre Dame’s Men’s Cross Country Team Wins NCAA District IV Meet
Freshman Deeter wins the women’s race
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Notre Dame’s men’s cross country beat threeteams ranked ahead of the Irish and claimed the NCAA District IVmeet at Illinois in Champaign, Ill. The win gives the Irish oneof the districts three automatic berths into the NCAA crosscountry championships in Tucson, Ariz. on Nov. 25. Notre Damefinished second a year ago in the distict race before finishingtied for eighth at the NCAA championships.
The 16th-ranked Irish scored 60 points, edging No. 8 Wisconsinby three points. No. 11 Michigan was third with 83 points. Jason Rexing finished second out of the 240 runners in the race. Matt Althoff, Derek Seiling and Joe Dunlop finished eighth,ninth and 10th for Notre Dame. Michigan’s John Mortimer won themen’s race.
“This was our best race all year,” said men’s coach Joe Piane. “We are peaking at the right time of the year. We knew that ifwe got could beat Michigan then we would at least qualify forthe NCAAs, and if we could beat Wisconsin then we would win therace, and we did both. Rexing, Seiling and Althoff ran the waythey have all year but Joe Dunlop was the key for us today. Heran extremely well and Tim Engelhardt ran terrific also.”
On the women’s side, Notre Dame finished fifth as freshmanJoanna Deeter won the women’s race, edging out StephanieDueringer of Michigan State by four seconds to claim thedistrict title. Wisconsin and Eastern Michigan claimed the toptwo spots and District IV’s two automatic bid into the NCAAchampionships. The Irish still have an outside shot at one ofthe at-large bids into the field. Deeter qualifiesindividually for the race with her showing Saturday.
Men's Results Women's Results 1. Notre Dame 63 points 5. Notre Dame 155 points 2. Jason Rexing 30:38 1. Joanna Deeter 17:18 8. Matt Althoff 30:54 10. Nicole LaSelle 17:42 9. Derek Seiling 30:57 31. Heidi Reichenbach 18:19 10. Joe Dunlop 31:00 47. Mieke Walsh 18:2831. Tim Engelhardt 31:52 66. Janel Kiley 18:45