Nov. 19, 2006
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – For the 14th time in the past 17 years, the Notre Dame men’s cross country team will compete in the NCAA Championship when it takes to the LaVern Gibson Championship Course on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind. The Irish placed third at last year’s national meet, their best finish since 1990, and will be seeking consecutive top-10 NCAA finishes for the first time since 2000 and 2001 (ninth and sixth place, respectively). Meanwhile, the Notre Dame women’s cross country team will have an individual representative at the NCAA meet, as junior two-time All-American Sunni Olding (Minster, Ohio/Minster) will carry the monogram into Monday’s race.
The Irish men are ranked 14th in the nation entering this year’s NCAA Championship, and are coming off a runner-up finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional back on Nov. 11 in Bowling Green, Ohio. It was the third consecutive second-place regional outing for Notre Dame and marked the fourth time in six years the Irish earned an automatic berth to the NCAA finals. Senior All-American Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ontario/Walkerton D.S.S.) logged his third consecutive top-seven regional finish (and subsequently his third straight all-region selection) with a seventh-place showing in 31:22.97. Sophomore Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial) was right behind his teammate in eighth place, garnering his second all-region certificate in as many attempts with a time of 31:23.21. Two other Irish runners picked up their first all-Great Lakes Region plaques, as freshman Brock Hagerman (Markleville, Ind./Pendleton Heights) came in 24th place (31:53.24) and senior Todd Ptacek (Benton Harbor, Mich./Lake Michigan Catholic) was 25th overall (31:53.94).
Benninger, Smyth and Ptacek all have experience at the NCAA Championship level, having been part of last year’s third-place Irish squad. Benninger cut the tape in eighth place (29:50.2), becoming one of only four Notre Dame runners ever to break the 30-minute barrier at nationals. Smyth was the fifth Irish scoring runner last year in 99th place (30:57.9), while Ptacek finished in 180th position (31:43.2) in his NCAA Championship debut. This season, Benninger and Smyth have formed a potent 1-2 punch for Notre Dame, placing among the top 12 in their last three races, including a 2-3 finish at the BIG EAST Championship in late October.
On the women’s side, Olding will race in the NCAA meet for the third consecutive year, having posted top-35 showings (and earning All-America status) in each of her first two appearances. As a freshman in 2004, she ended up 32nd in a time of 21:10, before coming home in 34th place last year (20:29). She has finished in the top 20 of all five races she has run this year, including three top-six placements. Most recently, she was sixth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, crossing the line in 21:03.50. Notre Dame has had only two three-time cross country All-Americans in its history — Lauren King (2001-03) and Molly Huddle (2002-03, 2005).
More information on the NCAA Championship can be found on the Indiana State University cross country web site (www.indstate.edu/athletic/cross). 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 —