Oct. 16, 2004
Terre Haute, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams had solid showings at the pre-NCAA championships on Saturday afternoon as they each placed second in their respective races. Irish junior Molly Huddle (Elmira, N.Y./Notre Dame) registered a third-place showing with a time of 20:29 in the women’s 6K blue race and sophomore Kurt Benninger (Chepstow, Ont./Walkerton D.S.S.) came in eighth overall in a time of 24:07 in the men’s 8K white race at the Lavern Gibson Course. Stanford swept the women’s blue and the men’s white races, while Colorado did the same in the women’s white and men’s blue races. Each race featured elite teams who were divided up among the two races on both the men’s and women’s side. Many of the squads will return to the same course on Monday, Nov. 22 to compete in the NCAA championships.
Stanford’s Alicia Craig won the women’s blue division with a time of 20:20, while Colorado’s Renee Metevier was the white champion after posting a time of 20:03. Irish junior Stephanie Madia (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) clocked in 25 seconds after her teammate Huddle to place 11th and senior Kerry Meagher (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) was not far behind in a time of 21:03 to finish 16th. Freshman Sunni Olding (Minster, Ohio/Minster) also cracked the top-30 for Notre Dame, who is ranked sixth in the nation, as she registered a time of 21:23, which was good for 29th.
Senior Lauren King (Toronto, Ont./Lawrence Park Coll. Inst.), running in her first race of the 2004 season, posted a time of 21:43 to place 52nd overall and junior Jean Marinangeli (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) crossed the finish line at 22:17 in 113th-place. Elizabeth Webster (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child), a junior, rounded out the field for the Irish as she placed 187th out of 252 runners in a time of 22:59.
The men’s blue champion was New Mexico’s Matt Gonzales (23:47), while Stanford’s Ryan Hall (23:54) took home the same honors in the white race. Four Notre Dame runners placed in the top-50 led by Benninger and junior Tim Moore (Novi, Mich./Novi), who clocked in a time of 24:12 to place 13th. Junior Kaleb Van Ort (Waterloo, Ind./Dekalb) was 28th overall after running the course in 24:34 and senior Sean O’Donnell (Kansas City, Mo./Rockhurst) placed 50th at 24:53 for the ninth-ranked Irish.
Fighting Irish junior Vincent Ambrico (Alamonte Springs, Fla./Choate Rosemary Hall) ran in a time of 25:00 to place 66th out of 242 runners and teammate Ryan Johnson (Auburn, Ind./Auburn) was 14 seconds back in 88th-place. Freshman Jake Watson (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) crossed the finish line at 25:30 placing him 121st overall in his first pre-nationals meet.
Complete results are available on the Indiana State University web site at www.indstate.edu/athletics. For additional information please log onto www.und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
2004 Pre-Nationals Invitational (Lavern Gibson Cross Country Course – Terre Haute, Ind.):
Men’s White Division Top-10 Teams: 1. Stanford 77, 2. Notre Dame 165, 3. Michigan 188, 4. BYU 190, 5. Florida State 203, 6. North Carolina State 263, 7. Colorado State 272, 8. Villanova 274, 9. Northern Arizona 348, 10. Duke 356.
Men’s White Division Top-10 Individuals (plus all Notre Dame finishers): 1. Ryan Hall (Stanford) 23:54, 2. Nate Brannen (Michigan) 23:56, 3. Nick Willis (Michigan) 23:58, 4. Jason Bill (Illinois) 23:59, 5. Nef Araia (Stanford) 24:01, 6. Andrew Lemoncello (Florida State) 24:03, 7. Josh Rohatinsky (BYU) 24:06, 8. Kurt Benninger (Notre Dame) 24:07, 9. Lucas Meyer (Yale) 24:07, 10. Jacob Gomez (Stanford) 24:09, 13. Tim Moore (Notre Dame) 24:12, 28. Kaleb Van Ort (Notre Dame) 24:34, 50. Sean O’Donnell (Notre Dame) 24:53, 66. Vincent Ambrico (Notre Dame) 25:00, 88. Ryan Johnson (Notre Dame) 25:14, 121. Jake Watson (Notre Dame) 25:30.
Women’s Blue Division Top-10 Teams: 1. Stanford 49, 2. Notre Dame 111, 3. North Carolina 129, 4. Missouri 174, 5. BYU 192, 6. Georgia 261, 7. Princeton 305, 8. Indiana 309, 9. Idaho 339, 10. UCLA 344.
Women’s Blue Division Top-10 Individuals (plus all Notre Dame finishers): 1. Alicia Craig (Stanford) 20:20, 2. Carol Henry (North Carolina) 20:23, 3. Molly Huddle (Notre Dame) 20:29, 4. Laura Turner (BYU) 20:30, 5. Erin Donohue (North Carolina) 20:36, 6. Anita Siraki (Stanford) 20:42, 7. Kate Gorry (Rice) 20:47, 8. Katy Trotter (Stanford) 20:48, 9. Nicole Lee (Georgetown) 20:50, 10. Cack Ferrell (Princeton) 20:52, 11. Stephanie Madia (Notre Dame) 20:54, 16. Kerry Meagher (Notre Dame) 21:03, 29. Sunni Olding (Notre Dame) 21:23, 52. Lauren King (Notre Dame) 21:43, 113. Jean Marinangeli (Notre Dame) 22:17, 187. Elizabeth Webster (Notre Dame) 22:59.
— ND –