Sept. 6, 2002

The 2002 adidas Invitational has taken on an even better impressive look on Friday, as the FinishLynx/NCAA Division I women’s cross country preseason poll was released on Thursday, Sept. 5. All three teams competing in the meet on Friday are ranked in the top 25, which included #3 North Carolina State, #10 Notre Dame and #19 Arizona State.

The #10 ranking is the highest the women’s cross country team has earned at Notre Dame, though the team will not run with its full complement of runners this weekend. Highly touted freshmen Molly Huddle and Stephanie Madia, along with their other classmates, will not be in the lineup for head coach Tim Connelly’s team. The Irish will not be out of contention in the meet, however, as all nine runners who helped Notre dame finish 19th in the NCAA Championship last season will be running in the meet.

The men’s side of the meet features #7 North Carolina State, #13 Arizona State, #25 Notre Dame and Tennesse, who also received votes in the MONDO men’s cross country preseason poll.

The meet begins on Friday afternoon at 5:15 p.m. with the women’s race. The men’s race will start at 6 p.m., and all races are run at the Burke Memorial Golf Course on the west side of campus (enter at Dorr Road). There is no charge to see the Irish cross country teams in action.