CEDAR CITY, Utah - After a dominant performance at the UC Riverside Invitational, Southern Utah Men's and Women's Cross Country will try and keep the good times rolling this Friday Sept. 29th at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.

MEET INFORMATION

LIVE STATS

Coach Eric Houle Said:

"These are the meets that allow us to contend for the national championship meet.  In the past, we've been able to knock off nationally ranked teams in this meet.  Either way the athletes are going to gain valuable experience that will allow them to compete with the best in the country."

Last Time Out

The men dominated both the Invite and the Open, finishing with only 41 points in the Invite and 60 points in the Open, surpassing the second place team by 63 points and 23 points respectively.

Nethaneel (Ban) Taylor led the way for all runners in the Open, finishing with a 24:59.6.  Freshman Logan Peele finished close behind him in ninth with a 25:13.9.  

Gabriel Romney and Clayton Adams also had stellar outings for the 'Birds, finishing 15th and 24th with times of 25:26.2 and 25:41.3 respectively, giving SUU four finishers in the top 25.

Camden Cox came in 27th with a time of 25:45.7, while Bailey Oswald wrapped things up for the T-Birds in 135th with a time of 27:26.2.

In the Invite, it was Travis Feeny who led for the Thunderbirds, finishing fourth with a 23:46.2.  Following close behind him was Santiago Gaitan and Jacob Peterson, finishing back to back in sixth and seventh with times of 23:49.9 and 23:51.6, securing three top ten finishes for their school.

Rounding out the competition was Noah Jenkins, who came in 13th with a time of 24:06.2, Coleman Cragun with a 20th place finish and a 24:13.6.  Bowen Martin finished 32nd with a 24:21.4, followed closely by Lanse Larsen in 34th with a time of 24:23.9 and Hayden Harward in 36th with a 24:25.7.  Max Jones finished 84th with a time of 24:57.7 and Nathan Carlin ended in 94th with a time of 25:04.8.

Despite not competing in the Open, the women's team finished strong in the Women's Invite with a sixth place finish and 203 points, only 37 points behind Arizona and 84 points behind UC Irvine.

SUU was led by a ninth place finish from Sariah Hernandez with a time of 20:28.4.  Freshmen Taylor Jorgensen and Daisy Baker also finished strong taking 27th and 40th with times of 21:13.7 and 21:29.7 respectively.  

Adisen Stratton ended in 77th with a time of 22:07.8, followed closely by Quinn Hagerman in 82nd with a time of 22:09.1.  Madison Patrick finished the day in 104th and a time of 22:28.4.  Ellary Battle finished three spots behind with a time of 22:33.6.  Alexis Patrick and Makayla Pitcher finished back to back in 140th and 141st with times of 23:19.4 and 23:21.1.  Rounding the competition out for the 'Birds was Adelaide Englestead in 147th and a time of 23:34.1.

Thunderbirds in the Rankings

Despite an impressive finish for both teams in Riverside, the 'Birds still sit in the middle of the pack in this week's United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association Mountain Region rankings.

After their first place finish two weeks ago, SUU's Men's team jumped up to 10th place but remain behind powerhouses such as BYU and Air Force.  The Thunderbird Women's team remained in 13th and currently sits behind teams such as Utah State and UVU.

Notre Dame Invitational

Being one of the most prestigious national meets across all of collegiate cross country, the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational attracts some of the top programs around the country, including top ranked teams such as Alabama, NC State, Montana State and host school Notre Dame.

The meet will take place on the historic Burke Golf Course on Notre Dame's campus, with the women set to kick things off at 8:30 am MT in the Blue 5000m, with the men set to begin the Blue 5 Mile at 9:15 am MT.

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