Oct. 13, 2006
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – With the BIG EAST Conference Championship looming in two weeks, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams will get one final chance to prepare when they take part in the Pre-National Meet on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., hosted by Indiana State University on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The Irish women’s squad will run first, competing in the 6K Blue Division race at 11 a.m. (ET), before the 21st-ranked Notre Dame men take the course for the 8K White Division event at 12:50 p.m. (ET).
Once again, the Pre-Nationals are being contested on the same course that will play host to the NCAA Championship on Nov. 20. Historically, the Pre-Nationals have served as one of the better indicators of which teams will be contenders for the national title at season’s end. It also is among the largest regular-season meets of the year, with 70 men’s teams (22 ranked) and 70 women’s teams (24 ranked) scheduled to run Saturday in Terre Haute. Last year, both Irish teams finished second in their respective races for the second consecutive season, and like 2004, the men placed three runners in the top 30, while the women had four top-30 finishers.
Despite fielding a young lineup through the 2006 campaign, the Notre Dame men have turned in solid efforts in their first three races of the season, winning the (Valparaiso) Crusader Invitational and the National Catholic Championship before tying for fourth place at the high-powered Notre Dame Invitational. In that most recent event, sophomore Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial) ran an exceptional race, placing third in a personal-best time of 23:46, topping his previous standard by more than 45 seconds. Like Smyth, senior All-American Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ontario/Walkerton D.S.S.) made his ’06 debut at the Notre Dame Invitational, coming home 13th in 24:08. Smyth and Benninger will headline the Irish lineup this weekend at Pre-Nationals, with Benninger aiming for his third consecutive top-10 finish (eighth in 2004, fourth in 2005) and Smyth looking to improve upon his 41st-place showing last year.
Junior Jake Watson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) also could be heard from on Saturday, having registered a pair of top-25 performances in his initial two races of the season, including a second-place outing at the National Catholic Championship. Classmate Brett Adams (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) was eighth at the National Catholic meet and 56th at the Notre Dame Invitational, breaking the 25-minute mark for the first time in his career at the latter event. Freshman Brock Hagerman (Markleville, Ind./Pendleton Heights) and Jake Walker (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) will look to contribute for the Irish, as well, after both finished in the top 20 at the National Catholic Championship and recovered well following an early pileup during the Notre Dame Invitational.
Over on the women’s side, Notre Dame is seeking to erase an uncharacteristically sluggish performance at the Notre Dame Invitational, when the Irish placed 12th in the 19-team field, on the heels of a runner-up outing at the Crusader Invitational and a win at the National Catholic Championship. Junior All-American Sunni Olding (Minster, Ohio/Minster) has a pair of top-20 showings in as many races this season, including the National Catholic individual title and a season-best time of 17:15 at the Notre Dame Invitational. Junior Julie Opet (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) has shown promise throughout the course of the ’06 campaign, placing in the top five at the first two meets of the season and running a season-best 17:44 at the Notre Dame Invitational last month.
Freshman Lindsey Ferguson (Greenfield Center, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) is searching for a breakthrough effort after mixed success during the early part of this season. The Irish rookie placed sixth at the National Catholic meet (18:17), but got caught up in traffic at the Notre Dame Invitational and ended up 79th (18:04). Meanwhile, senior Amy Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick’s) could be the x-factor for Notre Dame, as she makes her 2006 debut after recovering from an off-season injury. Kohlmeier displayed good form during the most recent track & field season, earning all-BIG EAST honors in the outdoor 5,000 meters with a time of 16:41.69, but she has not run cross country since last year’s conference meet, when she placed 57th.
More information on the Pre-National Meet can be found on the Indiana State University cross country web site. Final results from the meet will be posted shortly after the conclusion of the day’s races in a number of formats — on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com), the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000), and via the new Irish ALERT text message system, which can be accessed from the cross country page on the Notre Dame athletics web site.
— ND —