Oct. 15, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the Pre-National cross country meet Sat., Oct. 16 at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s blue race will commence at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women’s white race at 11:35 a.m. The white and blue men’s races will succeed at 12:10 p.m. and 12:50, respectively. Concluding the event at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course will be the men’s and women’s open races at 1:30 p.m. and 2:05 p.m., in that order.
There are over 1,600 runners that will compete in the six races on the day. Among those runners will be 18 of the top 30 men’s cross country teams and 18 of the top 30 women’s cross country teams.
The men’s cross country team, ranked 28th according to the USTFCCA, will battle top-ranked Colorado (#4), Nothern Arizona (#5) and Portland (#8) among 32 other teams in the men’s eight-kilometer blue race at 12:10 p.m.
Traveling to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Irish are Mat Abernethy (College Park, Md./Georgetown Prep.), Jordan Carlson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Rosemount), Spencer Carter (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly), Ryan Gamboa (Upland, Calif./Upland), Martin Grady (Burr Ridge, Ill./Fenwick), Dan Jackson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter), Kelly Lynch (Spokane, Wash./Mead), Joe Miller (Bowling Green. Ohio/St. John’s Jesuit), Jeremy Rae (Fort Erie, Ont./Lakeshore Catholic), Walter Schafer (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek), Jonathan Shawel (Placentia, Calif./Troy) and DJ Thornton (Rahway, NJ./Union Catholic). Seven competitors will run in the men’s white race with the remaining five members participating in the men’s open race.
The women’s cross country team will race in the women’s blue race at 11:00 a.m., also facing a tough field. Third-ranked Florida State, Georgetown (#5), Arizona (#6), Colorado (#9) and 38 other teams will line up on Saturday morning for the six-kilometer race.
Among the Irish going to Terre Haute, Ind. this weekend are Alexa Aragon (Billings, Mont.), Elizabeth Barron (Oakland, Mich./Notre Dame Prep.), Theresa Cattuna (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East), Kelly Curran (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic), Molly Hirt (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North), Kari Johnson (Central Lake Mich./Central Lake), Meg Ryan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde), Jessica Rydberg (Pinetop, Ariz./Blue Ridge), Susanna Sullivan (Falls Church, Va./George Mason), Rebecca Tracy (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), Rachel Velarde (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Erica Watson (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville).
At the 2009 Pre-National meet the men’s team finished 15th with 2010 graduate Jake Walker crossing the line first for the Irish in 24:34.7. The women’s team had a ninth place finish and were led by Lindsey Ferguson who finished 15th overall in 21:00.9.
Stanford captured the men’s title with their own Chris Derrick earning the individual title in 23:27.1. On the women’s side, Washington claimed the team crown, while Angela Bizzari of Illinois was the individual finisher in 20:27.8.
Full results and a recap will be available at und.com following the meet.
WOMEN’S 6K BLUE RACE (11:00 A.M. Start Time): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Ball State, BYU, Central Michigan, California, Clemson, Colorado State, Columbia, Dartmouth, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Illinois State, Iowa, Iowa State, Liberty, Loyola Marymount, Marquette, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Portland, Princeton, Providence, Purdue, Richmond, Southern Utah, Texas, UCLA, UTEP, Vanderbilt, William & Mary, Washington, Weber State, Wichita State.
WOMEN’S 6K WHITE RACE (11:35 A.M. Start Time): Air Force, Arizona State, Baylor, Bucknell, Butler, Cal Poly, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida, Georgetown, Georgia, Harvard, Illinois, Indiana State, Jacksonville, James Madison, Kansas, Kansas State, LaSalle, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Montana State, North Carolina State, New Mexico State, Northwestern, Ohio University, Rice, San Francisco, Stanford, Stony Brook, Toledo, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley, Western Kentucky, Washington State, Wisconsin.
MEN’S 8K BLUE RACE (12:10 P.M. Start Time): Arizona, Baylor, Binghamton, California, Clemson, Colorado State, Dartmouth, Dayton, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Illinois, Iona, Louisville, Marquette, McNeese State, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi, Montana, Montana State, North Carolina, Northern Arizona, Nebraska, Ohio State, Princeton, Purdue, Richmond, South Dakota State, Stanford, UCLA, Utah Valley, UTEP, William & Mary, Washington.
MEN’S 8K WHITE RACE (12:50 P.M. Start Time): Air Force, Alabama, Arizona State, Butler, BYU, Central Michigan, Cal Poly, Cincinnati, Colorado, Columbia, Eastern Kentucky, Georgetown, Harvard, Indiana State, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, LaSalle, Liberty, Loyola Marymount, Minnesota, Morehead State, New Mexico State, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio University, Oklahoma, Portland, Providence, Southern Utah, Tennessee, Toledo, Tulsa, Utah State, Western Kentucky, Washington State.
WOMEN’S 6K OPEN RACE (1:30 P.M. Start Time): Northern Arizona, Holy Cross, Iona
MEN’S 8K OPEN RACE (2:05 P.M. Start Time): Bucknell, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Eastern Washington, Weber State
–ND–