MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: Irish return to No. 1
By KATIE HUGHES
Sports Writer
NEW YORK
There is an Irish pub across from Van Cortlandt Park with a familiar name — the Southbend.
It wasn't the only thing in the Bronx that was familiar to the Notre Dame men's cross country team, as they reclaimed the Big East title for the third time in seven years on Friday.
The fifth-ranked Irish narrowly edged out No. 14 Villanova, 52-49 to take the title. Luke Watson finished second overall in 24:22, battling at the finish with Connecticut's Dan Wilson.
"I was battling four Villanova guys, a UConn guy, and a Providence guy," said Watson. "And among them there were four sub four minute milers, so I knew I had to break away early, because I'm only a 4:05 miler. Given that, I probably don't have as great of a finish as the other guys, so I knew I had to get some early separation."
Watson was followed by Providence's Namish Thorpe, and by four reasons the Irish shouldn't have taken the title — a pack of Villanova runners who took places four, five, six, and seven.
"Frankly, I was shocked that we won," said head coach Joe Piane, who, along with assistant coach Tim Connelly, was awarded the men's cross country staff of the year award. "Villanova goes four, five, six, and seven. They had four in before our second, so clearly we had a lot of work to do."
It was senior Marc Striowski who pushed the pace early, going out in burst of speed and establishing the authority of the Irish pack.
"[Striowski] gets a little antsy at the beginnings of races," said senior Sean Zanderson.
"That helped everyone out because fewer mistakes are made at the front, and everyone's more excited to run at the front," said Watson.
Sophomore Todd Mobley, who was 26th in last year's Big East Championships, finished eighth for the Irish with a time of 24:47, followed closely by Striowski in ninth with a time of 24:48.
"Last season [Todd Mobley] was our fourth man, and he was good for a freshman, but he's just come so much further his sophomore year," said Watson.
Villanova's fifth runner finished 30th overall, leaving room for another demonstration of the depth that has been a threat to every ranked team the Irish have faced all season.
"The race started out a little slow at first, heading into the wind," said Watson. "Then all of a sudden I look up and I'm just surrounded by Irish jerseys, and it was awesome to see them all there."
Senior Ryan Shay, recovering from illness but struggling with Achilles tendonitis, took a crucial 11th place for Notre Dame. Shay finished first the last time the Big East meet was held at Van Cortlandt Park, leading the team to their last team title in 1999. His time was 24:22, the same time Watson ran this year.
When he found out that seventh-place Providence was holding out two of their runners because of injuries, Shay had considered not running because he didn't know if the race would worsen his injury.
"[The rest of the team] knew going in that I might not be in the front with them, but those guys definitely know how to step it up. Marc, he's a senior, and he was fired up for this, and those guys weren't going to let anything deter them from winning."
Sean Zanderson finished 19th in 25:30 to defend the last scoring position, running almost two minutes faster than he did in the Big East Championships two years ago.
David Alber worked his way up to finish 20th, right on Zanderson's heels, in 25:32.
"David Alber made a tremendous step forward today, placing in the top 20. Last year at this meet he was nowhere to be found, and he's just made tremendous strides forward," said Watson.
Mario Bird edged out another Villanova runner to finish 32nd, and Pat Conway, still struggling with the same illness that took him out of the Prenational meet mid-race, was 38th. Notre Dame beat Villanova at Prenationals, and neither Shay nor Conway finished the race.
"We get [Conway and Shay] healthy, and we're a very good team," said Piane. "We're an awfully good one with them the way they are now, but we'll be a very good team when they're healthy."
"Things are going to come together well by nationals," said Shay.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 30, 2001
