Oct. 13, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s cross country team took on its most competitive field of the season and finished 12th overall at the debut running of the Bob Timmons Invitational at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kansas. The team finished with 375 total points, but was well behind first place Stanford’s pace-setting sum of 80. Oregon finished second with a total of 103 and Colorado took fourth, scoring 120.

Notre Dame sophomore Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.) led the Irish attack for the fourth time this season by finishing in 17th overall with a 25:18.64 effort. University of Butler senior Julius Mwangi narrowly defeated Colorado senior Adam Goucher by one second with a time of 23:47.50 to win the event. Mwangi also won the Notre Dame Invitational’s blue men’s race at Notre Dame a little more than one week prior. The Irish hope to return to Rim Rock Farm in late November for the 1998 NCAA cross country championships.

Bob Timmons Invitational Recap: Notre Dame placed four runners in the top 90. Freshman Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) finished second for the Irish and sprinted to a time of 26:08 to take 77th place. He has now finished in the top three among Irish runners in each race this season. Senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten, Island, New York) finished 89th with a time of 26:17.06. Immediately following in 90th was senior Antonio Arce (Palmdale, Calif.) with a time of 26:17.61. Rounding out the top five for the Irish was senior Tim Engelhardt (East Syracuse, N.Y.), finishing 112th overall with a time of 26:27.64.

Competing in his second varsity race of the season, junior Sean McManus (Hernando, Fla.) finished with a time of 27:14.43 and 179th overall. Freshman Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.), sophomore Ted Higgins (Naperville, Ill.), and junior John Dudley (Westwood, Mass.) also competed for the Irish, with times of 26:42.71, 27:26.91, and 27:38.71 respectively.

Central Collegiates: Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams will compete in the Central Collegiate Championships on Fri., October 16, at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. Founded in part by legendary Irish football coach Knute Rockne in 1926, the annual event is a showcase of talent for the Central Collegiate Conference. This year’s competition begins at 4:00 p.m. with the women’s race, immediately followed by the men’s competition at 4:45 p.m. The men’s squad will attempt to improve upon its fifth-place finish in last year’s running, while the women hope to up their sixth place mark.

Wolverine Interregional: In what Irish coach Tim Connelly expects to be one of the most important meets of the season, the Irish women will travel to Michigan to compete in the Wolverine Interregional on Sunday, October 18. Notre Dame will be up against 14 other teams, including third-ranked Michigan, ninth-ranked wake Forest, 10th-ranked Georgetown, 13th-ranked Washington and #14 William & Mary. The 5K race, which begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT, is in its sixth year and will take place on the Michigan Golf Course.

Women's RankingsAs of Oct. 13, 1998 1. Brigham Young 2. Stanford 3. Michigan 4. Providence 5. Arkansas  6. Arizona 7. Wisconsin 8. Villanova 9. Wake Forest10. Georgetown 
Men's RankingsAs of Oct. 13, 1998 1. Stanford 2. Arkansas 3. Oregon 4. Colorado 5. Arizona  6. NC State 7. Michigan 8. Providence 8. Michigan St.10. Oklahoma St.20. NOTRE DAME