ACC Championships
Cross Country
Pre-Nationals
Joe Piane Invitational
Crusader Open
NCAA Great Lakes Regional
NCAA Championship
ACC Championship
Wisconsin Pre-Nationals
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite
National Catholic Invite
Crusader Invite
National Catholic Invite
Winrow Valparaiso Open
ACC Championships
Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invite
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite
Winrow-Valparaiso Invite
Pre-Nationals (Men Only)
Winrow-Valparaiso Open
NCAA Championships
UNLV Invite
ACC Championships
Louisville Classic
NCAA Championships
ACC Championships
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
National Catholic Invitational
Great Lakes Regional
Sept. 9, 2004
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s cross country teams will open the 2004 season at Valparaiso University’s Crusader Invitational on Friday, Sept. 10. The Irish women, who are ranked fourth according to the finishlynx.com preseason poll, won the invitational in 2003, while the men had a second-place showing.
The women’s competition at the Crusader Invitaional appears to be stronger than in year’s past as 2003 NCAA qualifer Wisconsin will compete along with the Irish, who will not be sending their regular top-eight runners. Notre Dame head coach Tim Connelly wants to focus on getting some of his less-experienced runners valuable race exposure, which will benefit them later on this season. He will send out an eight-runner field consisting of senior Christi Arnerich, juniors Jennifer Walls and Elizabeth Webster, sophomores Katie DeRusso, Jennifer Richard and Brianne Schmidt and freshmen Kathleen Coverick and Alyson Parker.
Arnerich has been hampered by injuries during portions of her career. She was the top-finisher for the Irish at the Valparaiso Invitational during her freshman campaign as she placed fourth. Webster’s third-place finish at the National Catholic Invitational in 2003 was her best showing on the year. Walls competed in five meets last year and recorded a time of 23:59 at the BIG EAST Championships. She also placed 14th and 15th at the Valparaiso and National Catholic Invitationals, respectively, in 2003.
Notre Dame men’s cross country head coach Joe Piane will have seven of his runners take to the course at Valparaiso. Seniors AJ Andrassy, Terry Lennon, Ryan Johnson, and Michael Manning, juniors Vinnie Ambrico and Austin Weaver along with sophomore Daniel Driscoll compromise the field for the Irish men.
Weaver had success at the Crusader Invitaional a year ago as he finished fifth in a time of 25:37. Andrassy also had a top-10 showing by coming in eighth, while Lennon placed 11th and Manning 16th. Johnson ran a time of 26:02 at the BIG EAST Championships to go along with a sixth-place finish at the National Catholic Invitational. Driscoll and Ambrico participated in one event each during the 2003 campaign.
Running gets underway at 5:00 p.m. (EST) for the women and 5:45 for the men. For results of the race, please log on to www.und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
— ND –