Nov. 3, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – – The Notre Dame men’s cross country team won its second BIG EAST title in three years at the BIG EAST championships last Friday at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. Junior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) won the men’s individual 8K title and head coach Joe Piane was named BIG EAST men’s coach of the year. The women, who finished fifth, were paced by senior Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) who placed a career-best fourth in the 5K race.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: Shay became the first Notre Dame runner to win the BIG EAST individual title since the Irish began BIG EAST competition in 1995. His winning time of 24:22 was the third-fastest in course history.
Notre Dame had six runners place in the top 20, while all 12 men’s harriers recorded career-best finishes at the BIG EAST meet. Sophomore Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) finished third in the race with a time of 24:36, senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished ninth (24:59), sophomore Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.) was 11th (25:02), senior John Dudley (Westwood, Mass.) finished 19th (25:33) and senior Sean McManus (Hernando, Fla.) 20th (25:35). Shay, Watson, Maxwell and Striowski earned all-BIG EAST honors (top 15) for their performances.
Coach Joe Piane, in his 25th season as head coach, was named the BIG EAST men’s coach of the year for the second time. He also won the award in 1997 when the Irish captured their first BIG EAST team title also at Van Cortlandt Park.
The women bounced back from a disappointing finish at the pre-national meet with some impressive performances. Klemmer had her career-best finish at the BIG EAST championships, placing fourth in 17:39. Freshman Jennifer Handley (Barrie, Ont.) continued her outstanding rookie season, earning all-conference honors along with Klemmer for her 12th-place finish (17:59). Senior Patty Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) finished 23rd, classmate Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) 26th and junior Chrissy Kuenster (Wheaton, Ill.) was 33rd. The team finished fifth in the 13- team field. The Irish were without the services of senior All-American JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), who missed the BIG EAST championship because of an Achilles injury.
IRISH MOVE UP IN THE POLLS: The men made their first appearance in the top 20 after their third-place finish in the Notre Dame Invitational, Oct. 1. After having not been ranked in the preseason MONDO NCAA poll, the Irish moved up from 17th to 10th following the pre-national meet on October 16th. The BIG EAST team title last weekend raised the Irish up to eighth.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Both varsity teams have two weeks off before heading to the District IV championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The top two teams at the districts receive automatic bids to the NCAA championships, Monday, Nov. 22, in Bloomington, Ind.
BIG EAST Top Team Results
Men
1. Notre Dame 432. Georgetown 573. Villanova 604. Providence 615. Boston College 146
Women
1. Georgetown 412. Providence 593. Villanova 744. Boston College 785. Notre Dame 98
FinishLynx NCAA Div. I
Women’s XC Poll (11/1)
Rk School (First-Place) Pts 1. Stanford (11) 299 2. Arkansas (1) 288 3. BYU 277 4. Colorado 262 5. Wisconsin 253 6. Georgetown 229 7. Kansas State 224 8. North Carolina 217 9. Arizona State 20810. Washington 19911. North Carolina State 17412. James Madison 16813. William & Mary 15714. UCLA 14215. Michigan 12816. Minnesota 11817. Providence 10718. Boston University 9819. Michigan State 8420. Northern Arizona 7721. Missouri 5422. Villanova 4323. Nebraska 3824. Arizona 2025. Oregon 16
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 1
MONDO NCAA Div. I
Men’s XC Poll (11/2)
Rk School (First-Place) Pts 1. Arkansas (16) 400 2. North Carolina St. 380 3. Colorado 364 4. Arizona 356 5. Stanford 335 6. Wisconsin 323 7. Michigan 300 8. Notre Dame 290 9. Georgetown 24810. James Madison 24611. Oregon 23412. BYU 22313. Villanova 19614. Northern Arizona 19115. Arizona State 18816. Weber State 14817. William & Mary 13118. Portland 12419. Minnesota 10320. Providence 9221 Princeton 7522 Tennessee 6723 Utah 5424 Dartmouth 49 25 Southern Mississippi 17
SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER11 Valparaiso Invitational M 1st (Valparaiso, IN) W 2nd17 National Catholic Invitational M 1st W 1stOCTOBER1 Notre Dame Invitational M 3rd W 1st 16 Pre-National Championships (Bloomington, IN) M 6th W 22nd
29 BIG EAST Championship (Bronx, NY) M 1st W 5thNOVEMBER13 NCAA Great Lakes Region (Terre Haute, IN) 10:30 a.m. 22 NCAA Championships 10:30 a.m. (Bloomington, IN)
All times local to site.