Sept. 19, 2008

Box Score

South Bend, IN - The UD women's cross country team was a runner-up in its second consecutive race, while the men's squad finished fifth at the National Catholic Invitational on Friday evening at the University of Notre Dame. The men's team beat out 28 other teams with a team score of 121 at the event.

Redshirt junior Mike Andersen, who took the individual title at last year's event, paced the field for the men's squad (25:13) and finished fifth overall for the Flyers.

The next two UD runners were just behind. In fact, the top three Flyer finishers were all within 26 seconds of one another.

Sophomores Matt and Chris Lemon crossed the tape in eighth and 12th place, respectively. In the first 8K race of the season for UD, Matt clocked in at 25:22 while his brother recorded a time of 25:39.

Sophomore Cory McGoldrick, running in 43rd position, was the next runner to complete the course (26:39), while redshirt senior Billy Przybyla, 26:54, took 53rd overall.

Sophomore Ryan Shirley (62nd, 27:10) and senior Tim Kaelin (73rd, 27:26) ran in defense for the Flyers.

The National Catholic Invitational was won by the host school in the women's competition, and by Duquesne in the men's race. It was the seventh straight championship for Notre Dame.

For UD's women, who ran a balanced race, sophomore Maureen Bulgrin led the team with an eighth place finish. Bulgrin, who has now led the team two meets in a row, turned in a time of 18:21 - good for the 25th best 5K time in school history.

Another sophomore, Liz Coorey, placed second for UD and twelfth overall in 18:30. It was a personal best for the second year runner, who also notched a spot on the all-time list (32).

Running in third position for UD, freshman Elissa Mason ran her fastest time of the year (18:45) to nab 20th overall in the race. Sophomore Brigitte Sherman rounded out the scoring by taking 28th in 18:58.

Running in defense for the Flyers was senior Jacqueline Jaworek (42nd, 19:19) and freshman Emily Zimmerman (43rd, 19:20).

The men's team will be in competion again next Saturday at the Roy Griak invitational in St. Paul, Minn., while the women will have next weekend off before heading to Kentucky on Oct. 4 to participate in the Greater Louisville Classic.