For Immediate Release: November 3, 1999
Contact: Peggy Curtin - (219) 631-7516

Notre Dame Men's Cross Country First, Women Fifth At BIG EAST
Championships; Shay Wins Individual Race; Piane Named Coach of the Year

Notre Dame, Ind. - - The Notre Dame men's cross country team won its second
BIG EAST title in three years at the BIG EAST championships last Friday at
Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y.  Junior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.)
won the men's individual 8K title and head coach Joe Piane was named BIG
EAST men's coach of the year. The women, who finished fifth, were paced by
senior Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) who placed a career-best fourth in the
5K race.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP:  Shay became the first Notre Dame runner to
win the BIG EAST individual title since the Irish began BIG EAST
competition in 1995. His winning time of 24:22 was the third-fastest in
course history.
	Notre Dame had six runners place in the top 20, while all 12 men's
harriers recorded career-best finishes at the BIG EAST meet. Sophomore Luke
Watson (Stillwater, Minn.) finished third in the race with a time of 24:36,
senior Ryan Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished ninth (24:59), sophomore
Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.) was 11th (25:02), senior John Dudley
(Westwood, Mass.) finished 19th (25:33) and senior Sean McManus (Hernando,
Fla.) 20th (25:35).  Shay, Watson, Maxwell and Striowski earned all-BIG
EAST honors (top 15) for their performances.
	Coach Joe Piane, in his 25th season as head coach, was named the
BIG EAST men's coach of the year for the second time. He also won the award
in 1997 when the Irish captured their first BIG EAST team title also at Van
Cortlandt Park.
	The women bounced back from a disappointing finish at the
pre-national meet with some impressive performances. Klemmer had her
career-best finish at the BIG EAST championships, placing fourth in 17:39.
Freshman Jennifer Handley (Barrie, Ont.) continued her outstanding rookie
season, earning all-conference honors along with Klemmer for her 12th-place
finish (17:59). Senior Patty Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) finished 23rd,
classmate Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) 26th and junior Chrissy Kuenster
(Wheaton, Ill.) was 33rd.  The team finished fifth in the 13- team field.
The Irish were without the services of senior All-American JoAnna Deeter
(Glen Ellyn, Ill.), who missed the BIG EAST championship because of an
Achilles injury.

IRISH MOVE UP IN THE POLLS: The men made their first appearance in the top
20 after their third-place finish in the Notre Dame Invitational, Oct. 1.
After having not been ranked in the preseason MONDO NCAA poll, the Irish
moved up from 17th to 10th following the pre-national meet on October 16th.
The BIG EAST team title last weekend raised the Irish up to eighth.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Both varsity teams have two weeks off before heading to
the District IV championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The top two teams at the
districts receive automatic bids to the NCAA championships, Monday, Nov.
22, in Bloomington, Ind.

BIG EAST Top Team Results
Men
1. Notre Dame 	43
2. Georgetown	57
3. Villanova	60
4. Providence	61
5. Boston College	146

Women
1. Georgetown	41
2. Providence	59
3. Villanova	74
4. Boston College	78
5. Notre Dame	98

*For complete BIG EAST team and Notre Dame individual results, please
consult our official website, www.und.com.*

Schedule
SEPTEMBER
11		Valparaiso Invitational  	       M 1st
		(Valparaiso, IN) 	       	      W 2nd
17		National Catholic Invitational
					       M 1st
					       W 1st
OCTOBER
1		Notre Dame Invitational
			       		       M 3rd
					       W 1st


16		Pre-National Championships
		(Bloomington, IN)
					       M 6th
					       W 22nd

29		BIG EAST Championship
		(Bronx, NY)		       M 1st
					       W 5th
NOVEMBER
13		NCAA Great Lakes Region
		(Terre Haute, IN)	    10:30 a.m.
22		NCAA Championships	    10:30 a.m.
		(Bloomington, IN)

Home meets in bold.  All times local to site. Home meets run at Notre Dame
Golf Course.

MONDO NCAA Div. I
Men's XC Poll (11/2)
Rank	School (First-Place)	Pts
1.	Arkansas (16)		400
2.	North Carolina St.		380
3.	Colorado			364
4.	Arizona			356
5.	Stanford			335
6.	Wisconsin			323
7.	Michigan			300
8.	Notre Dame		290
9.	Georgetown		248
10.	James Madison		246
11. 	Oregon			234
12.	BYU			223
13.	Villanova			196
14.	Northern Arizona		191
15.	Arizona State		188
16.	Weber State		148
17.	William & Mary		131
18.	Portland			124
19.	Minnesota			103
20. 	Providence		92
21      	Princeton                         	75
22      	Tennessee                         	67
23      	Utah                              	54
24      	Dartmouth                         	49
25      	Southern Mississippi           	17

FinishLynx NCAA Div. I
Women's XC Poll (11/1)

Rank	School (First-Place)	Pts
1.	Stanford (11)		299
2.	Arkansas (1)		288
3.	BYU			277
4.	Colorado			262
5.	Wisconsin			253
6.	Georgetown		229
7.	Kansas State		224
8.	North Carolina		217
9.	Arizona State		208
10.	Washington		199
11.	North Carolina State		174
12.	James Madison		168
13.	William & Mary		157
14.	UCLA			142
15.	Michigan			128
16.	Minnesota			118
17.	Providence		107
18.	Boston University		98
19.	Michigan State		84
20.	Northern Arizona		77
21.         	Missouri                    	54
22.         	Villanova                  	 	43
23.         	Nebraska                    	38
24.         	Arizona                     	20
25.         	Oregon                      	16
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 1