Advertisement

NCAA cross-country: Westfield, Fort Wayne runners help Notre Dame women finish fifth

David Woods, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read

Two Indiana high school graduates, Lauren Bailey and Erin Strzelecki, helped Notre Dame finish fifth in women’s standings in the NCAA Cross-Country Championships on Saturday morning at Tallahassee, Fla.

It was the best by the Fighting Irish since fourth place in 2004.

North Carolina State won its first team title, beating defending champion BYU 84-122. New Mexico scored 134, Colorado 187 and Notre Dame 215.

Butler was 29th with 660.

More: Butler runners head to NCAAs, thanks to science + edginess + grit

BYU’s Whittni Orton was individual winner in 19:25.4 for 6,000 meters, beating defending champ Mercy Chelangat of Alabama.

ADVERTISEMENT

For Notre Dame, Maddy Denner was ninth, Olivia Markezich 11th, Bailey 62nd and Strzelecki 80th.

Jun 12, 2021; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Whittni Orton of BYU leads the womens 5,000m during the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 12, 2021; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Whittni Orton of BYU leads the womens 5,000m during the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Bailey, of Westfield, is a graduate transfer who was an NCAA indoor track champion at University of Indianapolis. She was 86th in the 2016 state meet. Strzelecki, of Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, was the 2019 state champion.

Butler’s Kami Hankins was 119th and Angelina Ellis (Zionsville) 120th.

Notre Dame men fade to ninth

Notre Dame and Butler men could not repeat momentous finishes of eight months ago.

Notre Dame faded to ninth and Butler was 28th.

In March’s pandemic-delayed nationals, the Irish were second and Butler 13th.

Northern Arizona repeated as team champion – and won its fifth in six years -- with 92 points. Iowa State was second with 137, Oklahoma State third with 186 and Arkansas fourth with 195.

Notre Dame, which led Northern Arizona 109-125 through three kilometers, finished with 290 points. Butler had 643.

BYU’s Conner Mantz repeated as winner, running the 10,000-meter course in 28:33.1 Iowa State’s Wesley Kiptoo was second in 28:38.7.

Mantz, of Smithfield, Utah, became the first U.S.-born runner to win successive titles since Oregon’s Steve Prefontaine did so in 1970 and 1971.

For the Irish, Dylan Jacobs was 20th (28:57.5) and Danny Kilrea 31st (29:28.0). Olympic 1,500-meter runner Yared Nuguse, who was 23rd in March, finished 158th.

Elsewhere, Butler’s Simon Bedard (29:45.7) and Barry Keane (30:09.6) were 60th and 100th. Purdue’s Curtis Eckstein was 137th and Indiana’s Arjun Jha 176th out of 250 finishers.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NCAA Cross Country Championships 2021: Notre Dame women finish fifth