This past Friday, as football fans made their way to South Bend, Notre Dame’s cross country team hosted the National Catholic Invitational at Burke Golf Course. In its 46th year, the meet featured a variety of other Catholic universities, including Loyola (Ill.), Lewis, DePaul, Detroit Mercy, Canisius, St. Francis (Ill.), Bellarmine, Mount Mercy, Mercyhurst, St. Francis (Ind.), Thomas More and the Notre Dame Running Club.
In just the team’s second meet of the season, the first since Aug. 29, the men’s and women’s teams topped the field with scores of 20 and 15, respectively. In the men’s race, Loyola (Ill.) finished second with a team score of 55, and Lewis finished third with a team score of 110. In the women’s race, Lewis finished second with a team score of 69, and DePaul rounded out the podium with a team score of 79.
The first man to cross the finish line in the men’s 8k was Notre Dame junior Daelen Ackley, who finished in a time of 23:48.4. Ackley barely beat out his teammate, freshman Cameron Todd, who finished just a tenth of a second behind Ackley with a time of 23:48.5. This time marked a personal best for Todd, destroying his previous best of 24:05.0, which he ran at last year’s meet. Coming in behind Todd was another pair of Irish runners, as junior Izaiah Steury finished with a time of 24:07.1, and junior Sam Rich followed in fourth in 24:08.5. Rounding out the top five was Notre Dame freshman Benji Anderson, who ran unattached, finishing in 24:12.0.
Similar domination was seen on the women’s side, with Irish runners sweeping the top five in the 5k. Sophomore Arianne Olson topped the podium with a time of 16:35.8, which just nearly beat out her teammate, sophomore Mary Bonner Dalton, finishing in 16:36.1. Third place belonged to freshman Amaya Aramini with a time of 16:39.7. The top three finishers all set personal records in the 5k, with Aramini shaving over 90 seconds off her former best time of 18:13.0. Junior Gretchen Farley finished fourth in 16:47.1. Senior Sophie Novak rounded out the top five for the Irish women with a time of 16:48.7.
In the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings, the Irish men came in at No. 8 in the nation and No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region. The women find themselves at No. 11 nationally and No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region.
The team is back in action on Oct. 3 as they host the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
