September 13, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame cross country teams opened their 1998 seasons with two first-place finishes. The Notre Dame women, led by junior JoAnna Deeter (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), beat second place Loyola Chicago by three points. The men also beat Loyola Chicago by 24 points and were led by sophomore Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.), who finished second to Julius Mwangi of Butler University.

In the women’s race, Deeter beat her nearest competitor, Erin Johnson (unattached), by over 30 seconds to win her sixth collegiate meet. Joining Deeter in the meet’s top-10 finishers was Notre Dame junior Patti Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) who took fourth place. Sophomores Erin Olson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Bridget O’Brien (Bloomington, Minn.) finished 15th and 16th, while juniors Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) and Valerie Siqueira (Mishawaka, Ind.) came in 23rd and 24th place.

On the men’s side, Notre Dame dominated the five-team competition, placing four runners in the top 10. Along with Shay, senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished fourth, freshman Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) placed sixth in his first collegiate meet, and Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) was the 10th runner to cross the finish line. Both teams’ next meet will be this Friday, Sept. 18, 1998 as the Irish host the 18th annual National Catholic meet. The junior varsity race is set to start at 3:30 p.m., while the varsity women’s race begins at 4:15 p.m. and the varsity men’s starts at 5:00 p.m.

Notre Dame Results:

Women’s – JoAnna Deeter (first), Patti Rice (fourth), Erin Olson (15th), Bridget O’Brien (16th), Erin Luby (23rd), Valerie Siqueira (24th), Megan Driscoll (27th), Kelly Peterson (28th), Leanne Brady (29th), Heather O’Brien (30th), Cara Motter (31st), Jennifer Pavela (35th), Anna Yates (43rd), Diana Percival (44th), Carolyn Buller (49th), Kelly Tutko (59th).

Men’s – Ryan Shay (second), Ryan Maxwell (fourth), Luke Watson (sixth), Antonio Arce (10th), Ted Higgins (13th), Tim Engelhardt (15th), Marc Striowski (16th), Sean McManus (22nd), Mike Griewe (23rd), John Dudley (24th), Ryan Blaney (27th), Mike Dreznes (29th), Whitney Kuehl (32nd), Pat Conway (35th), Nick Fehring (37th).