Irish runners host Catholic Invitational
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
The Irish cross country squads defend their home turf today as they host the National Catholic Invitational in the first of just two home meets.
Notre Dame will be the team to beat, seeing as neither the men or women's squad has lost since 1994. Despite its string of five consecutive titles, a first-place finish is by no means a sure thing for Notre Dame, particularly on the women's side.
"Loyola (Chicago), they're really good," women's cross country coach Tim Connelly said. "They've got a pretty veteran team. Most of their top kids are juniors and seniors. We're going to have to run really, really well to beat them."
An added challenge in aiming for No. 1 will be the absence of sophomore star Jennifer Handley, who likely will not run due to a foot problem.
"She's got a sore foot," Connelly said. "She's really improved a lot, but I don't want to set her back at all."
With Handley on the sidelines, the varsity lineup will likely consist of freshmen Megan Johnson and Rachel Endress, sophomores Muffy Schmidt and Jennifer Fibuch, juniors Hilary Burn and Anne McGrath and senior Chrissy Kuenster.
"We definitely want to win," Fibuch said. "I definitely think that we have the ability to do it. We just have to focus, and I think we have to want to run fast to win and just know we've been training hard enough to win. I don't think it's just going to come."
Loyola is the main competition for the title, but about 30 teams will fill out the field. Dayton, Detroit, St. John's and Lewis all feature several strong athletes.
On the men's side, Notre Dame looks likely to run away with the victory.
"We've dominated this meet the past few years," junior Luke Watson said. "I think we look strong enough that we shouldn't have any real problems at this level of meet."
Watson placed second in the meet a year ago. Marc Striowski, Sean Zanderson, Pat Conway, John Keane, David Alber and Kevin Brown will likely join him in the varsity race.
"We're still looking for some guys to step up," Watson said. "Our team is composed of a lot of guys who are freshmen or who haven't raced cross country in their career. What's going on tomorrow is we're just looking to get them some experience."
After Notre Dame, Loyola and Lewis should be the top contenders.
Since the National Catholic Invitational began 20 years ago, the Notre Dame men have captured 12 team championships. Since women's competition began 16 years ago, the Irish have taken home seven titles.
The junior varsity races begin at 3:30 p.m. today on Burke Memorial Golf Course, followed by the varsity competition.
All Sports Stories for Friday, September 22, 2000
