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November 22, 1999

Notre Dame Men Eighth, Women 29th At NCAA Cross Country Championships

	BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - The Notre Dame men, behind an All-America
performance from junior Ryan Shay (Central Lake, Mich.), placed eighth at
the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Championships Monday morning at Indiana
University. The Irish women, meanwhile, finished 29th in the team's first
appearance at the NCAA championships since 1993.
	Shay led the Notre Dame men with a 12th-place finish by running the
10K course in 30:46.10, marking the highest individual finish for an Irish
men's runner since Dan Garrett placed ninth in 1988. Shay also earned
All-America status with his top-25 performance, becoming the first Notre
Dame men's runner so honored since Derek Seiling and Jason Rexing in 1996.
As a team, the Irish recorded their sixth, top-10 finish in the 1990s, and
their best since tying for eighth place in 1995.
	Shay, who finished 229th at the 1998 NCAA championships, had been
among the leaders of the race from the start, but then slowly faded after
experiencing cramping after the 6K mark.
	"I was in the lead group through the end of 6K, but I got a cramp
and the pack moved away from me," Shay said. "When the cramp faded, it was
too late and the leaders were too far away. I just tried to pick people off
one-by-one."
	Shay was helped by sophomore Luke Watson (Stillwater, Minn.), who
finished 58th in the elite college field in 31:35.30, and senior Ryan
Maxwell (Staten Island, N.Y.), who was the 100th overall runner to cross
the finish line in 32:05.00.  Other Notre Dame finishers included:
sophomore Marc Striowski (Toronto, Ont.), who was 111th in a time of
32:10.50, senior Sean McManus (Hernando, Fla.) was 120th in 32:19.10,
senior John Dudley (Westwood, Mass.) was 215th with a time of 33:41.00 and
senior Mike Griewe (Tampa, Fla.) was 217th in 33:44.60.
	"The kids are disappointed at the moment, but isn't it wonderful to
be disappointed with eighth place," Notre Dame men's coach Joe Piane said.
"You have to give Ryan Shay credit. He got right out there. He faded a bit,
but is still an All-American. Overall, it was a good race, but not a great
race and not our best of the year."
	The women, who earned an at-large bid to the championships, were
led by senior Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.), who finished 73rd in 17:49.60
on the 5K course. Freshman Jennifer Handley (Barrie, Ont.) was the second
Notre Dame runner to cross the finish line in 134th with a time of
18:13.20. Senior Patty Rice (Mishawaka, Ind.) notched a 186th place in
18:35.00, junior Erin Olson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished 191st in
18:40.70 and senior Nicole LaSelle (Dayton, Ohio) came in right behind
Olson in 192nd in 18:40.80 to round out the Irish top-five runners. Junior
Chrissy Kuenster (Wheaton, Ill.) was the team's sixth runner in 195th with
a time of 18:42.80, while senior Erin Luby (Inverness, Ill.) finished out
her career with a 199th place in 18:45.70.
	"Alison (Klemmer, who was sick) didn't have a good race and we were
counting on that low number a lot," Irish women's head coach Tim Connelly
said. "The rest of the athletes ran the way I thought they would. We had to
run together."
	The Arkansas men captured the team title with 58 points with
Wisconsin second with 185 points. North Carolina State (201), Stanford
(223) and Michigan (282) rounded out the top five. South Alabama freshman
David Kimani won the men's individual title with a meet record time of
30:06:60. On the women's side, BYU claimed the national title with 72
points.  Arkansas (125) was second, followed by Stanford (127), Wisconsin
(185) and Kansas St. (232). Wisconsin sophomore Erica Palmer won the
women's individual race in a time of 16:39.50.

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