The Irish will take to the track Saturday in the annual Notre Dame Invitational. The Irish men will be competing against runners from Marquette, DePaul, Loyola, Butler and Michigan State. The meet is another event designed to prepare the Irish for the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 4 and 5, which is seen as the first big meet of the season. Notre Dame has proven itself in other preparatory events, which has head coach Joe Piane excited heading into the Invitational.
"This will be a pretty good event, the men's 800-meters and hurdle races should be good, and the 3,000-meter race should be excellent," Piane said.
The 3,000-meters is expected to be a compelling race, considering the depth the Irish possess in distance runners.
The Irish distance squad, featuring runners such as Kurt Benninger, who won the mile at last week's meet, and freshman 800-meter runners Brett Adams and Jake Watson, will be a large factor.
However, other schools will prove to be a challenge considering the squad from Butler finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and that Michigan State has Steve Sherer, an All-American, running in the race.
In the hurdle races, the Irish will look to Selim Nurudeen, who has already turned in several outstanding performances in this young indoor season.
Piane stated he was very pleased with the way the season was turning out.
"Things are coming along well, when you realize that most of our guys have only run at one meet," he said. "Right now our goal is to get guys qualified for the Big East [Indoor Championships]."
and we have quite a few qualified already," Piane said.
The Irish have achieved 49 Big East qualifications in just their last two meets.
