Men take 6th, women finish 22nd
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Assistant Sports Editor
The men's cross country team leapt into the top ranks of the nation's teams with a sixth place finish at the Pre-National NCAA meet Oct. 16, led by junior Ryan Shay's fourth-place showing.
"I think if we can just all stay healthy, we're going to turn a lot of heads at nationals," said Shay. "If we can run well at districts, that will give us an edge."
The women's team suffered from the absence of senior All-American JoAnna Deeter due to a sprained ankle and the sub-par performances of several other runners.
The women aimed for a top-10 finish, but wound up finishing 22nd of 33 teams in the meet. The low placing by the Irish may affect their chances of qualifying for the NCAA championships in November.
"It kills us if we don't get an automatic berth," said women's head coach Tim Connelly. "We just got beat by 21 other teams. We didn't beat anybody of consequence."
The men's squad moved up from 17th to 10th place in the rankings following its strong performance at the Pre-Nationals. Notre Dame beat seventh-ranked BYU and eighth-ranked Northern Arizona in the race. The only teams to finish ahead of Notre Dame were Stanford, Colorado, Arizona, Big East rival Georgetown and Arizona State.
The Irish will take a third shot at beating Georgetown Friday in the Big East Championships.
"Unfortunately, they've beaten us twice," said men's head coach Joe Piane. "Maybe the third time will be a charm."
Shay has been the number one runner for the Irish all season long. He ran the 8K meet in 24 minutes, 12 seconds, finishing only six seconds behind winner Steve Fein of Oregon.
"I was pleased, but I just know that by the time nationals come, I'm going to be a lot more confident," said Shay. "A couple of the guys up there had pretty good kicks, but I'm pretty confident that my stamina will help when we add the extra mile. I feel I'm a pretty strong contender for the national championship. I have to have that mindset right now."
Piane also expressed his confidence in Shay's capability to make his mark at nationals.
"I think he's going to be even better over 10,000 meters," said Piane. "I certainly think he has a shot at being in the top 10 and being an All-American."
Sophomore Luke Watson was the second finisher for the Irish, placing 22nd in 24:40. Fellow sophomore Marc Striowski was the third Irish finisher in 25:20, winding up in 68th place. Seniors Sean McManus and Ryan Maxwell took 75th and 87th places, respectively, to round out the scoring contingent for the Irish.
Poor performance forced the women's squad out of the top 25 for the first time this season. Senior Alison Klemmer was the leading runner for Notre Dame. She placed 44th in the 5K meet at 18:07 — a minute behind champion Kara Wheeler of Colorado.
Senior Patti Rice, freshman Jennifer Handley, junior Erin Olson and senior Erin Luby were the next four members of the Irish squad to finish.
"We just ran very poorly. Obviously, it was a pretty bad race," said Connelly. "We still have a lot of potential with or without JoAnna."
The Pre-National meet was held on the Indiana University cross country course in Bloomington, the same course on which the NCAA championships will be run.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 26, 1999
