Oct. 13, 2001
The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams kept their early-season momentum going strong with two impressive finishes at the Pre-National meet in Greenville, SC, Saturday afternoon. The men’s team claimed second place in its race, while the women’s team continued to show its improvement by posting an 11th-place finish in its respective competition.
The Irish men, who were without the talents of senior Ryan Shay in the meet, took second place behind #1 Colorado. The Buffalos won the meet with 62 points, followed by Notre Dame’s team total of 172.
Senior Luke Watson served as the team leader in the race on Saturday, finishing fourth in 24:17 and establishing himself as one of the contenders for the NCAA title on November 19. Classmate Marc Striowski crossed the line next in 12th place, followed closely by sophomore Todd Mobley in 14th.
Keeping up his string of impressive races, senior Sean Zanderson ended up as Notre Dame’s fourth runner, navigating the course in 25:21 and finishing 51st. Sophomore Mario Bird rounded out the Irish entries in the field, taking 91st place in 25:48.
The women’s team wound up 11th in their highly competitive race, led by freshman Lauren King in 15th place. The Irish rookie was competing in just her second collegiate race and is now a threat to earn All-America honors at the national meet next month.
Sophomore Megan Johnson stepped up to the challenge on Furman’s campus as well, finishing second on the team and 52nd overall in 22:13. Junior Jennifer Handley, who has been one of the most consistent performers on the roster this season, placed 65th.
Notre Dame’s fourth and fifth scoring runners in the women’s race ended up in 121st and 132nd place to give the Irish a team score of 385, just 13 points out of a berth in the top-10.
Both teams will get a chance to rest next weekend before the BIG EAST Championship at Van Cortland Park in New York on Oct. 26.
Notre Dame Women’s Individual Results
15. Lauren King, 21:20
52. Megan Johnson, 22:13
65. Jennifer Handley, 22:25
121. Jennifer Fibuch, 23:09
132. Muffy Schmidt, 23:20
139. Christi Arnerich, 23:25
168. Julia Schmidt, 23:53
Women’s Gold Top-15 Team Results
1. Stanford, 72 pts.
2. Brigham Young, 74 pts.
3. North Carolina State, 142 pts.
4. Boston College, 150 pts.
5. Washington, 231 pts.
6. Virginia, 265 pts.
7. Villanova, 267 pts.
8. Colorado State, 285 pts.
9. Yale, 306 pts.
10. Marquette, 362 pts.
11. Notre Dame, 385 pts.
12. Dartmouth, 412 pts.
13. Toledo, 422 pts.
14. Minnesota, 425 pts.
15. Miami (Ohio), 460 pts.
Notre Dame Men’s Team Results
4. Luke Watson, 24:17
12. Marc Striowski, 24:45
14. Todd Mobley, 24:46
51. Sean Zanderson, 25:21
91. Mario Bird, 25:48
Men’s Gold Race Top-15 Team Results
1. Colorado, 62 pts.
2. Notre Dame, 172 pts.
3. Air Force, 184 pts.
4. UC Santa Barbara, 189 pts.
5. Arizona, 198 pts.
6. Eastern Michigan, 208 pts.
7. Villanova, 212 pts.
8. Duke, 215 pts.
9. Arizona State, 231 pts.
10. Wake Forest, 265 pts.
11. Indiana, 329 pts.
12. Washington State, 353 pts.
13. Florida State, 356 pts.
14. Miami, 395 pts.
15. Loyola, 437 pts.