The Irish men's and women's teams will host the Alex Wilson Invitational this weekend, two weeks removed from the men's victory at the Big East indoor championships — its fourth in eight seasons.
Notre Dame won either the indoor or outdoor title in each of those eight seasons.
"The Big East meet was a great measure of the hard work we've been putting in, but we can't rest on our laurels," senior Daniel Clark said. "We went right back to work and are hoping to get some guys qualified for Nationals this weekend."
Clark finished third in the men's mile last weekend with a time of 4:10.71.
Clark and the Irish realize this weekend provides a new challenge for the team, he said.
"In order to have a successful weekend we need go out and compete and take our performances up another notch," Clark said.
The Alex Wilson Invitational is unique in that it is the last chance to earn a spot at the NCAAs.
"It attracts many of the best athletes in the country, so the competition will be stiff," Clark said.
"A lot of our guys are right on the cusp of making the national meet, so the challenge is we are not only racing to win a race but also to move up into the top sixteen on the descending order list."
The event at the Loftus Sports Center is named in honor of former Irish track athlete and coach Alex Wilson. He competed in the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics and proceeded to coach the Notre Dame team for several successful decades.
The team will not take anything they have achieved up to this point for granted.
"As our last home meet of the year, we definitely won't be leaving anything left on the track as we hope to extend our indoor season for one more week," Clark said.
Clark and the Irish are familiar with success, and they expect that trend to continue this weekend at home.
