STILLWATER, Okla. – The Notre Dame men’s cross country team turned in one of the best performances in program history on Monday at the NCAA Championships, recording a second place finish with 87 points. The second place finish is the best for the Irish since winning the title in 1957.
“I’ve talked about this to these guys when I recruited them four years ago, we were coming off 14th place in the region,” said men’s cross country head coach Sean Carlson. “To see this through with them has been an awesome journey. I’m proud of every single one of our guys and love them like family. DON’T EVER COUNT NOTRE DAME OUT!”
The Irish placed six runners in the top 40 finishers, giving the team six All-America honors, more than any other program in the country as the next closest team was Northern Arizona with four.
Danny Kilrea led the Irish with a 10th place finish, crossing the line in 30:11.5 to become the best Notre Dame individual finisher since Patrick Smyth placed 10th at the 2008 championships.
The next four runners for the Irish stayed in a pack throughout the race and finished 20-23 to give the Irish 87 points on the day. The group included Dylan Jacobs (20th – 30:25.6), Andrew Alexander (21st – 30:26.4), Jake Renfree (22nd – 30:26.6) and Yared Nuguse (23rd – 30:26.6).
Josh Methner earned the team’s sixth All-America citation, posting a time of 30:43.5 to finish 36th and put an exclamation mark on an impressive performance.
The 87 points from the Irish is the best score from a runner-up since 1997. The second-place finish is Notre Dame’s fourth in program history and the first since doing so in 1945.
The Irish return all six of the All-Americans to next season’s squad.
Northern Arizona won the title with 60 points and BYU’s Conner Mantz won the individual title by finishing in 29:26.1.
NCAA Championships
Stillwater, Oklahoma
March 15, 2021
10K Race
MEN
10 – Danny Kilrea (30:11.5)
20 – Dylan Jacobs (30:25.6)
21 – Andrew Alexander (30:26.4)
22 – Jake Renfree (30:26.6)
23 – Yared Nuguse (30:26.6)
36 – Josh Methner (30:43.5)
228 – Kevin Salvano (33:57.9)