Nov. 9, 2017
By Megan Golden
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Terre Haute for the Great Lakes Regional meet at 11:15 a.m. ET on Friday. The Irish women will try to qualify for their seventh straight NCAA Championship as a team.
Notre Dame will look to juniors Annie Heffernan and Rachel DaDamio, who received All-ACC honors at the conference meet on Oct. 24. The Irish also need senior Jessica Harris and freshman AnnaSophia Keller to contribute in order for Notre Dame to qualify at the meet.
“We have not put together a complete race as of yet,” Irish associate head coach Matt Sparks said. “We have had individuals have shining moments but not the entire team.”
Notre Dame’s youthful men’s team will try to bounce back and send its team to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2013.
“Our men have done a great job of building throughout the year and becoming a better team each week,” Irish assistant coach Sean Carlson said. “We are really excited to keep that momentum going into the regional meet this weekend.”
WHAT: NCAA Great Lakes Regionals
WHEN: 11:15 a.m. (women) and 12:15 p.m. (men) on Friday, Nov. 10, 2017
WHERE: LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course (Terre Haute, Indiana)
LIVE RESULTS: Click here.
LIVE STREAM: Click here.
Great Lakes Regional Meet History
The Irish men’s squad has had at least one individual qualify for the NCAA Championships in 29 of the last 30 seasons. Overall, the men’s team has qualified in 23 regional meets, including 13 of the last 18.
The Notre Dame women have qualified in 15 regional meets all-time, including qualifying in six straight meets.
2016 Regional Rewind
The women’s cross country squad placed second overall at the 2016 Great Lakes Regional meet, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Notre Dame used a second-place finish from sophomore Anna Rohrer (19:35.7), who was the individual runner-up for the second straight season.
Three Irish runners finished in the top-25 and received All-Region honors, including Rohrer, sophomore Annie Heffernan (10th, 20:19.3) and graduate student Danielle Aragon (13th, 20:23.2).
The men’s team, which featured three freshmen, recorded a 14th-place finish out of 30 teams.
Irish Lineup
Men:
Brian Griffith
Brent Kennedy
Tyler Keslin
Yared Nuguse
Kevin Pulliam
Connor Sheryak
Bradley Wattleworth
Vincent Zona
Women:
Rachel DaDamio
Kaitlin Frei
Jessica Harris
Kelly Hart
Annie Heffernan
AnnaSophia Keller
Claudia Magnussen
Up Next
The Irish women will compete in the NCAA Championships at noon ET on Nov. 18 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.
A total of 31 teams will compete at the championship meet. The top two teams from each regional championship automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship. There also are 13 at-large bids, which are granted following all regional meets.
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Irish cross country program, follow @NDXCTF on Twitter and @NDXCTF on Instagram.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.