NOTRE DAME, Ind. — With nearly two dozen of the best cross country teams in the nation in town, the University of Notre Dame cross country program held its own among the elite, with the ninth-ranked men placing fifth and the No. 12 women placing eighth among the stacked field at the 64th annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
The results will certainly shake up the national landscape as, in the first race of the day, the unranked Utah women captured first place with a team score of 110. Top-ranked Colorado (116) took second, while No. 17 Florida State (129), No. 8 NC State (139) and No. 6 Washington (144) rounded out the top five. The Irish (234) finished behind No. 9 Wisconsin (157) and No. 2 New Mexico (171).
Graduate student Anna Rohrer paced the Irish women with a sixth-place finish in the 5K, recording 16:24.71 in her season debut. Sophomore Maddy Denner placed 25th with a time of 16:50.52, while junior Annasophia Keller finished with an eight-second personal best of 17:04.17 (47th place). Senior Kelly Hart also PR’d by 20 seconds with her 17:22.38 finish (74th).
Fourth-ranked Colorado (71 points) won the men’s five-mile race, followed by No. 14 Ole Miss (107), No. 15 NC State (177) and No. 21 Purdue (178) . The Irish finished in fifth with 187 points.
The Irish men slipped in the team standings after a fall by Danny Kilrea set them back early on. Nevertheless, the Irish place three within the top 25, led by junior Yared Nuguse (sixth, 23:28.10), sophomore Dylan Jacobs (15th, 23:40.81) and Andrew Alexander (23rd, 23:51.72). Senior Tony Williams (63rd, 24:19.22) and Kilrea (80th, 24:31.52) rounded out the Irish top five.
Nuguse bested his previous five-mile PR (24:11.1) by 43 seconds, while Alexander’s time was a full 50 seconds better than his previous college best (24:41.4). Williams (24:42.4), Peter Monahan (83rd, 24:32.87; previous PR 25:17.3) and Zach Kreft (115th, 24:54.02; previous PR 25:17.5) also recorded personal bests.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY
Hatherly-Piane Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Matt Sparks on the women’s performance…
“It’s a five-people count and we had four people run really well. We need to get Jackie Gaughan (who raced for the first time this season after recovering from injury) back to where she’s capable of running. … We lost to New Mexico by 50 points, which is a top-five team in the country, but if Jackie Gaughan is back where we know she’s capable of running, we’re probably beating them. There were some big upsets with Utah winning the race, which is a huge, huge performance for them. But it’s early in the season and everyone’s got question marks.
“I was really excited to see how Anna (Rohrer performed). She’s always run with confidence and I hope the rest of the team can take some of that from what she does. She’s not afraid to engage in the race early and when you do that, as a coach and an athlete, you can come back after the race and break some things down and grow from it.”
Sparks on other standout performances…
“Annasophia Keller is one who’s a junior who is really starting to grow into herself as an upperclassman. She was our third runner today and Kelly Hart was our fourth. Kelly’s an 800 runner who hasn’t really excelled in cross country, but had a good PR today in the 5K, so we’re excited to see her as a senior captain step up for us as well.”
Men’s cross country head coach Sean Carlson on the men’s team performance…
“I think the thing we compare ourselves to more than other team in this race is ourselves. I just know how good we are and I see our fitness in practice and we just need to translate that a little bit more. There was a fall and maybe some things that could have gone better, but at the end of the day that’s every cross country race. There are going to be things that happen and we’ve got to be able to respond to them. We didn’t do as well of a job as I would have liked to today. Did we run poorly? No, but our expectation is to be great. When your expectation is greatness, good isn’t enough.”
Carlson on standout performances…
“Dylan Jacobs finished 15th in his first real national-caliber cross country race in college and he just gamed up. He did what he’s supposed to do. Yared can obviously run cross country pretty well and everybody thinks of him as a miler. Alexander ran a really good race. Our front three were just fantastic.”
On what the Irish learned…
“I think we learned a lot about our identity and for moving forward. Some of those guys got out a little bit too far back and they know that. It’s college cross country and they know in the first mile you’ve got to get out front where you belong or it’s really hard to move up in that race.”
UP NEXT
The Irish will be back in action for the final time in the regular season when they compete at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday, October 18 in Madison, Wisconsin. The meet will again feature an elite field ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference and national postseason competition.
64th Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
Oct. 4, 2019
Burke Golf Course
Notre Dame, Ind.
Women’s Blue Division
Team Results
1. Utah 110
2. Colorado 116
3. Florida State 129
4. NC State 139
5. Washington 144
6. Wisconsin 152
7. New Mexico 176
8. Notre Dame 239
9. Minnesota 265
10. Ole Miss 288
Individual Results
6. Anna Rohrer 16:24.71
25. Maddy Denner 16:50.52
47. Annasophia Keller 17:04.17
74. Kelly Hart 17:22.38
88. Jackie Gaughan 17:30.44
108. Olivia Markezich 17:39.54
118. Jocelyn Long 17:47.32
Men’s Blue Division
Team Results
1. Colorado 71
2. Ole Miss 107
3. NC State 177
4. Purdue 178
5. Notre Dame 187
Individual Results
6. Yared Nuguse 23:28.10
15. Dylan Jacobs 23:40.81
23. Andrew Alexander 23:51.72
63. Tony Williams 24:19.22
80. Danny Kilrea 24.31.52
83. Peter Monahan 24:32.87
89. Tyler Keslin 24:39.15
115. Zach Kreft 24.54.02
–ND–