Oct. 17, 2014
MADISON, Wis. – A pair of University of Notre Dame juniors offered strong showings at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational Friday afternoon at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course. Timothy Ball ran to a respectable 44th place in the men’s 8K, while Molly Seidel finished 28th for the women on the 6K course.
Arguably the NCAA’s best regular season meet, the field boasted a combined 41 nationally ranked squads. Both Fighting Irish teams finished 30th in their respective races, as No. 6 Syracuse sped to the men’s title, with No. 2 Michigan State nabbing the women’s crown.
“This (meet) was the premier cross country race of the regular season,” said associate head coach Matt Sparks. “It was an opportunity for us to establish ourselves as a national contender and we did not take advantage.”
Ball’s time of 24:18 was just 35 seconds off the mark posted by top finisher Maxim Korolev of Stanford (23:43), with the top 100 runners recording times within a 55 second window.
“Tim Ball has been running with a lot of confidence in himself,” said Sparks. “We need that to rub off on some of the other guys. Our veteran leaders, Michael Clevenger and Jake Kildoo, are fit and healthy, we need to find them some confidence over the next couple of weeks.”
Seidel once again led the women with a time of 20:28, 53 seconds off the lead. Senior Emily Frydrych placed 116th (21:24).
Crystal Nelson (Iowa State) claimed first (19:35).
“Molly and Emily ran as we expected them to do,” said Sparks. “We need to work on the other five ladies performing at the level they did at the ND Invite if we are going to have success in two weeks at the ACC meet.”
With the regular season now over, the Irish turn their attention to the ACC Championships, which is slated for October 31 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
MEN’S 8K TEAM RESULTS
1. Syracuse (85)
2. Iona (154)
3. Wisconsin (176)
4. Portland (211)
5. Stanford (220)
—
30. Notre Dame (724)
MEN’S 8K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1 Maxim Korolev, Stanford 23:43
2. Futsum Zienasellassie, Northern Arizona 23:47
3. Aaron Nelson, Washington 23:51
4. Scott Fauble, Portland 23:53
5. Matt McElroy, Northern Arizona 23:54
IRISH FINISHERS: 44. Timothy Ball (24:18), 124. Michael Clevenger (24:49), 149. Jake Kildoo (25:00), 203. Jacob Dumford (25:31), 204. Kevin Durham (25:31), 218. Chris Quinn (25:57), 237. Chris Marco (26:45)
WOMEN’S 6K TEAM RESULTS
1. Michigan State (87)
2. Arkansas (121)
3. Iowa State (212)
4. Wisconsin (227)
5. West Virginia (245)
—
30. Notre Dame (684)
WOMEN’S 6K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Crystal Nelson, Iowa State 19:35
2. Rachele Schulist, Michigan State 19:39
3. Shelby Houlihan, Arizona State 19:41
4. Liv Westphal, Boston College 19:43
5. Katy Moen, Iowa State 19:43
IRISH FINISHERS: 28. Molly Seidel (20:28), 116. Emily Frydrych (21:24), 136. Danielle Aragon (21:34), 186. Katie Moran (22:01), 218. Sydni Meunier (22:22), 241. Karen Lesiewicz (22:47), 244. Taylor Driscoll (22:57)
–ND–