Irish finish eighth at Great Lakes Regional
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Writer
Notre Dame's quest for a second straight trip to nationals ran into a dead end Saturday with an eighth-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional meet in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
"The whole season, we haven't run anywhere near what I thought we were capable of running," women's head coach Tim Connelly said.
Sophomore Jen Handley paced the Irish, as she has most of the year. Her 6,000-meter time of 21 minutes, 47.3 seconds was good enough for 19th place.
"It was a good way for me to finish off the season because my previous two races weren't my best," Handley said. "Still, there's that part of me that's not satisfied until I'm at nationals."
The next finisher for Notre Dame was Chrissy Kuenster, the lone senior racing for the Irish. Kuenster, who improved by leaps and bounds this season, placed 29th in 22:04.3.
"It's always hard not to get your goal," Kuenster said. "I could sort of tell halfway through the race, that it was going to be my last race, and I was just trying to enjoy myself and run as fast as I could."
After Kuenster crossed the line, the Irish went through a long dry spell. Their next runners were well back in the pack. Freshman Rachel Endress took 73rd, junior Hilary Burn wound up 75th and sophomore Kari Eaton placed 76th.
To get to the NCAA Championships, Notre Dame likely would have needed an automatic berth, a prize earned by a top-two finish. Wisconsin won the meet with 65 points, and Michigan was the runner-up with 113. Notre Dame's total was 172.
"Maybe I underestimated the importance of experience at the level we're trying to compete at, and that's a pretty high level," Connelly said. "It [not qualifying] is not something you want to accept."
The success the Irish hoped for never materialized in 2000. While they ran well at times, filling the gaps left by graduated All-Americans JoAnna Deeter and Alison Klemmer proved an insurmountable task.
Freshmen and sophomores dominated Notre Dame's squad this year, young runners who might become building blocks for another great Notre Dame team, but lacked seasoning this year.
"I think we've got kids here with that kind of potential," Connelly said. "We've got a really good group of freshmen and sophomores. They have to continue to develop."
This year's early end is one Connelly hopes not to repeat, as the eighth-place regionals finish was Notre Dame's worst in a decade. He doesn't have to worry, if Handley's determination is any sign.
"We're never going to be happy until we get to nationals, and until we're one of the best teams at nationals," Handley said. "We're already thinking about next year. We're all pretty young, and we can only get better. We're already focusing on that."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 14, 2000
