Sept. 27, 2007
NORMAL, Ill.-- -
The Illinois State cross country team is back in action Friday, as it heads to South Bend, Ind., for the 52nd running of the Notre Dame Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame and held at the ninth hole of the Notre Dame Golf Course. The meet will kick off with the Gold Division women's 5K and men's five-mile races at 1 p.m. (CST) and 1:45 p.m., respectively, followed by the Blue Division women's and men's races at 3:15 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
A total of 54 schools are scheduled to participate in the Notre Dame Invitational, fifteen of which are currently ranked in the top-30 of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) men's and women's polls.
The Invitational is broken down into two divisions the top-tier Blue Division and the second-tier Gold Division. The ISU men's and women's teams will be competing in the Gold Division.
Head coach Jeff Bovee believes there is tough competition in the Gold Division, and his teams have the depth and talent to place among the top finishers.
"On the men's side, I think that the race will come down to Division III nationally-ranked No. 1 Calvin College," said Bovee. I think Calvin will be a favorite to win, but I think that our men will be able to race its team. North Central and Windsor College, are also among the top competitors, along with Hillsdale and Grand Valley State. I think our guys can be in the top-three, and our goal is to win the men's Gold Division."
Traveling to the meet on the men's side are juniors Mike Richardson and Brian Syring; sophomores Scott Krapf and Jordan Anderson; and freshmen Matt Mroczynski, John Navarro, Jon Roberts, Luke Ryan and Devon Kelly.
"There are going to be a lot of teams competing for the top-five spots in the women's race," said Bovee. "All of The Valley schools are going to be really good, along with a mix of other strong teams. Our women are going to shoot for a top-five placing. The strength of our women's team has not been that we have had just one outstanding individual, but we have women that have the potential to become outstanding runners. If the women can continue to run as a team and keep the time gap between each individual runner down, we are going to do really well at this race."
Competing in the race for the Redbird women is senior Suzy Turner; juniors Stacey Turilli, Kathleen Thompson and Natalie Scatena; sophomore Kim Ebbesen; and freshmen Jess Husted, Gina Kapusta, Sarah Glowacki and Kirsten Lang.
The Missouri Valley Conference will be represented in the women's Gold Division by Indiana State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, and in the women's Blue Division by Wichita State. The ISU men's team is the only Valley team in the Gold Division. Men's teams from Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Wichita State will race in the Blue Division.
The 52nd annual race is one of the nation's oldest and largest intercollegiate cross country meets. It was started in 1956 and has been run continuously ever since. The men's race originally began as a four-mile event before begin extend to five miles in 1968, with the 5K women's race being added in 1987.
ISU last competed at the Notre Dame Invitational as part of the Blue Division in 2002. Christian Goy was the Redbird men's top finisher at that race, placing 11th (24:44) while the men's team finished 15th overall. On the women's side, Kelli Schulte paced the Redbird women, running the 5K in 18:36 (54th), to lead the team to a 20th-place team finish.
