Rice University Athletics
Owls Set to Defend Notre Dame Invitational
10/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 1, 2008
The Rice Owls women's cross country team competes this Friday when it defends its team title at the 53rd Notre Dame Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind.
The pool of teams lists 12 ranked teams on the women's side. The Blue Division women's race at 4:15 p.m. and the men's races at 5 p.m. Admission for the meet is free to the public.
The Owls are ranked 19th nationally and third in the South Central Region. Running for Rice are Lennie Waite, Alison Pye, Nicole Mericle, Britany Williams, Claire Shorall, Keltie John, Laura Hudson, Marie Thompson, and Michaela Reynolds.
Last year, with senior Marissa Daniels leading the way, the unranked Rice women's team upset eight nationally ranked teams, including No. 2 Michigan, to win the 52nd Notre Dame Invitational.
The Owls won the 21-team meet with 118 points, 21 better than second-place and seventh-ranked Illinois. No. 12 Florida State was third with 141 points, and the Wolverines were fourth with 148. The other ranked teams to fall to Rice were Boston College (No.26), Providence (No.11), North Carolina State (No.16), Baylor (No.22), and the host Irish (No.27).
The Notre Dame Invitational is one of the nation's oldest and largest intercollegiate cross country meets. It was started in 1956 by former Irish head coach Alex Wilson and has been run continuously ever since. The men's races originally began as four-mile events before being extended to five miles in 1968, with the 5K women's race being added in 1987.
Players Mentioned
