Two of a kind: Men and women advance
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
The Notre Dame cross country teams made Irish fans see double at the NCAA Championships, as both the men's and women's squads advanced to nationals.
"It was very successful on both the men's and the women's side," head coach Joe Piane said. "By virtue of the fact that you just make it to the NCAAs, that makes it a successful season."
The men's squad returned to nationals for the seventh time in eight years, after missing out on a berth last season. Led by All-American Ryan Shay, who placed 12th, the Irish captured eighth place, after starting the season unranked.
"As a team, we turned a lot of people's heads," Shay said. "We went into the season unranked, and didn't even make nationals last year. We came back with basically the same team but a totally different attitude and ended up eighth in the nation."
Shay crossed the finish line first for the Irish all year, capturing titles at the Big East Championships and Notre Dame Invitational.
"Ryan was the first guy from Notre Dame to win the Notre Dame Invitational since 1969," Piane said. "I've had some wonderful cross country runners in my tenure here, and they never won it."
The men rode the waves of success all season long. They earned a first-ever Big East crown. Piane earned Big East Coach of the Year. Shay, sophomores Luke Watson and Marc Striowski, and senior Ryan Maxwell all earned All-Big East honors.
The women squeaked into the national meet with an at-large berth. The Irish finished 29th in their first NCAA Championships since 1993.
Although the Irish qualified for nationals, the season did not meet expectations. After losing All-American JoAnna Deeter at mid-season due to personal and medical reasons, the Irish struggled to retain their form.
"It wasn't what we started out to accomplish," women's head coach Tim Connelly said. "We lost our best runner."
Senior Alison Klemmer picked up the pace for the Irish in Deeter's absence. Klemmer was helped out by Patty Rice, Nicole LaSelle and Jennifer Handley.
The Irish placed fifth at the Big East Championships behind a fourth-place finish by Klemmer.
"I thought we raced really well at the Big East meet," Connelly said. "Alison had probably the best cross country race that she had in her life."
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 19, 2000
