Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Lindsey Ferguson finished second for the Irish, with a fourth-pace finish overall.

 
Both Teams Hoist Hardware at 28th National Catholic Championship

The Irish men's and women's cross country teams dominated the field, both taking the team titles.

Sept. 14, 2007

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Results

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame men's and women's cross country teams remain victorious in 2007 with each taking the team crowns in the 28th running of the National Catholic Championship at the Notre Dame Golf Course on Friday. The Irish men have now won 19 titles throughout the 28 years of the Championship with 17 in the last 20 championships while the women have taken 14 titles, all in the last 16 championships.

It was a great day for Irish freshman as newcomer Marissa Treece (Maple City, Mich./Glen Lake) took the women's varsity race individual title in her first competition donning a Notre Dame jersey, leading the 27th ranked Irish. Treece dominated the field of 263 runners with a time of 17:24 on the 5K course, with the second-place finisher, Samantha Howard of Duquesne, finishing 20 seconds behind with a time of 17:25. It is the 13th time a Notre Dame athlete has taken the women's individual title at the Championship.

The Irish women had a near perfect score with their top five finishers coming in the top seven spots. Rounding out the winning team was sophomore Lindsey Ferguson (Greenfield Center,N.Y./Saratoga Springs) in fourth with a time of 17:49, freshman Theresa Cattuna (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) in fifth with a time of 18:03, and senior Ann Mazur (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) and sophomore Beth Tacl (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) finishing a mere second apart in sixth (18:10) and seventh (18:11), respectively.

On the men's side, freshman Dan Jackson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) was the number one runner for the Irish finishing second in the field of 242 competitors with a time of 24:50 on the five-mile course. Jackson fell short to Mike Anderson of Dayton who took the individual title with a time of 24:36.

Right on the heels of Jackson was teammate and fellow Irish newcomer Paul Springer (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) in third place with a time of 24:53. Rounding out the rest of the Notre Dame top five runners was senior Brett Adams (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) in fifth place with a time of 25:17, senior Mike Popejoy (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) in ninth place with a time of 25:29 and teammate Kevin Veselik (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Benet Academy) (junior) close behind in tenth place with a time of 25:32.

The Irish have a week off before gearing up for the 52nd Notre Dame Invitational, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 28 at the nine-hole Notre Dame Golf Course. The Invitational which was founded by legendary former Irish head coach Alex Wilson in 1956, is one of the oldest and largest intercollegiate cross country meets in the country and regularly features runners from approximately 60 schools, including numerous nationally-ranked squads. The Notre Dame Invitational will be run throughout the afternoon on Friday, with the women's Blue Division race scheduled for 4:15 p.m. (EDT) and the men's Blue Division competition pegged for a 5 p.m. (EDT) gun time.

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