mile last season, while Lesiewicz, who comes to South Bend from Schaumburg, Ill., won the mile in 2009. Among the key losses for the Irish is the graduated Erica Watson, who finished 33rd at the BIG EAST Championship last season.
Schedule The schedule increases in intensity as the season goes along, and starts with familiar meets in the Crusader Invitational (Sept. 2), National Catholic Invitational (Sept. 16) and the Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 30).
Alexa Aragon and Kelly Curran all return for their sophomore campaigns. Ryan leads the group after finishing 29th at last season’s BIG EAST Championship. “All three runners had strong track seasons, so we are hoping that they’ll be at a different level than they were as freshmen,” says head Irish women’s cross country coach Tim Connelly. Notre Dame also returns a key member from its 2009 team in junior Jessica Rydberg, who missed all of the 2010 season with an injury. Rydberg claimed All-American status as a freshman in the 10,000 meters and placed 33rd in the 2009 BIG EAST Championships.
The women’s squad has won the Valparaiso University-hosted Crusader Invitational for four consecutive seasons, while the men’s team has won it two years in a row. Meet two marks the 32nd running of the National Catholic Invitational at Notre Dame for the men’s team and the 28th running for the women’s program. The women’s team has won the meet nine straight years, while the men’s team is on a two year winning streak. The highly competitive Notre Dame Invitational has been run every year since 1956 on the men’s side and 1987 on the women’s side. The men last claimed the title in 2007, while the women last won in 2003.
The Irish head to Madison, Wis., on Oct. 14 for the Wisconsin Invitational. Both the Notre Dame Invitational and the Wisconsin Invitational offer the Irish their first chance at seeing some of the top teams in the Great Lakes Region. The BIG EAST Championships are slated for Oct. 29, and will be held in Louisville, Ky. Last year the men finished fifth out of 14 teams, while the women placed sixth out of 16 squads. As always, the championship promises to be highly competitive on the women’s side as defending national champion Villanova returns along with fourth place Georgetown, ninth place Providence and 10th place Syracuse. Connelly also expects strong teams from West Virginia and Connecticut, making the BIG EAST as strong as it has ever been. The men’s championship will feature six teams that finished from 14 to 29 at the NCAA National Championship, including Notre Dame, who finished 25th. The NCAA Great Lakes Regionals will be on Nov. 12, in Toledo, Ohio, while the NCAA Championships will return to Terre Haute, Ind., for the eighth consecutive year on Nov. 21.
Overall, the Irish return 20 runners from last year’s team, and welcome eight newcomers. Seven of the returning runners competed at last year’s BIG EAST Championship, while four of those runners placed in the top five and scored points for Notre Dame. A balanced roster shows seven seniors, four juniors and nine sophomores to go along with the talented eight-member freshman class. Among the freshmen expected to compete immediately are Emily Frydrych and Karen Lesiewicz, both who have won the mile race in track and field in their respective states. Frydrych, who arrives from Wilmington, Del., won the
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