College cross country: Markezich paces ND women to seventh place finish at NCAA Championships
Olivia Markezich’s eighth-place individual finish led Notre Dame to a seventh-place team finish Saturday at the NCAA women’s cross country championships in Stillwater, Okla.
For the second straight year, the Irish women finish among the nation’s top 10.
Notre Dame’s men, meanwhile, finished 15th overall.
Notre Dame’s women scored 261 points, topped by Markezich, a junior, who clocked 19:46.4 on Oklahoma State University’s hilly 6,000-meter (3.9 mile) course.
Fort Wayne native Erin Strzelecki, a sophomore, was Notre Dame’s No. 2 finisher, clocking 20:17.8 to finish 54th overall. Katie Thronson was 68th in 20:24.3.
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North Carolina State got a two-fer as sophomore Katelyn Tuohy won the individual title and the Wolfpack captured the women’s team championship with 114 points. Tuohy out-sprinted Florida’s Parker Valby to win the individual race, clocking 19:27.7. Valby timed 19:30.9.
NC State was 46 points better than runnerup New Mexico. Notre Dame trailed sixth place Northern Arizona by only four points, 257-261.
The Irish finished fifth in this same meet a year ago.
Former Warsaw star Mia Beckham, running for Butler, finished 101st in 20:37.4.
The closest finish in NCAA history marked the men’s race, as Northern Arizona and host Oklahoma State finished in an 83-83 tie.
For the first time, a tie-breaker was applied to determine the national championship. In a head-to-head matchup of each team’s top five runners, Northern Arizona had three better finishes than Oklahoma State, and thus the Lumberjacks were awarded the title.
BYU was third at 132. Notre Dame scored 450 in 15th and Butler placed 21st with 553.
Stanford sophomore Charles Hicks outkicked Northern Arizona’s Nico Young over the last 200 meters of the 10,000-meter men’s course, finishing first in 28:43.6.
Butler’s Barry Keane finished 17th. Sophomore Carter Solomon was 18th to lead Notre Dame.
Solomon’s time was 29:18.8.
Notre Dame freshman Izaiah Steury, who set the New Prairie course record while running for Angola High School, was the second Irish finisher, placing 63rd in 29:52.3. Jake Renfree finished 103rd.
NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Stillwater, Okla.
WOMEN (6,000 meters)
TEAM SCORES: North Carolina State 114, New Mexico 160, Alabama 166, Oklahoma State 201, North Carolina 242, Northern Arizona 257, Notre Dame 261, BYU 263, Virginia 268, Georgetown 271, Colorado 286, Utah 307, Stanford 371, Oregon 390, Ohio State 467, Providence 468, Washington 470, Florida State 471, Wisconsin 494, Michigan State 497, Arkansas 507, Michigan 534, Syracuse 544, Oregon State 544, Colorado State 548, Utah Valley 548, West Virginia 562, Toledo 654, California Baptist University 659, Northwestern 714, Texas 983.
TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1, Katelyn Tuohy (NC State) 19:27.7. 2, Parker Valby (Florida) 19:30.9. 3, Kelsey Chmiel (NC State) 19:37.1. 4, Elise Stearns (Northern Arizona) 19:43.9. 5, Bailey Hertenstein (Colorado) 19:45.1. 6, Hilda Olemomol (Alabama) 19:45.6. 7, Natalie Cook (Oklahoma State) 19:46.3. 8, Olivia Markezich (Notre Dame) 19:46.4. 9, Amaris Tyynismaa (Alabama) 19:48.2. 10, Addie Engel (Ohio State) 19:50.4.
OTHER NOTRE DAME: 54, Erin Strzelecki 20:17.8 … 68, Katie Thronson 20:24.3 … 81, Siona Chisholm 20:30.4 … 103, Annasophia Keller 20:38.0 … 128, Maddy Denner 20:47.5 … 205, Katie Rose Blachowicz 21:24.7.
MEN (10,000 meters)
TEAM SCORES: Northern Arizona 83, Oklahoma State 83 (Northern Arizona wins on tie-breaker), BYU 132, Stanford 195, Wake Forest 204, Wisconsin 212, Air Force 264, Colorado 281, Tulsa 304, North Carolina 323, North Carolina State 334, Syracuse 340, Gonzaga 400, Washington 422, Notre Dame 450, Oregon 465, Harvard 474, Texas 506, Villanova 513, Tennessee 517, Butler 553, Virginia 557, Arkansas 584, Ole Miss 598, Montana State 599, Utah State 618, Alabama 683, Colorado State 704, Michigan 708, Princeton 712, Georgetown 752.
TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1, Charles Hicks (Stanford) 28:43.6. 2, Nico Young (Northern Arizona) 28:44.5. 3, Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona) 28:55.9. 4, Dylan Jacobs (Tennessee) 28:58.0. 5, Alex Maier (Oklahoma St) 28:58.2. 6, Graham Blanks (Harvard) 28:58.4. 7, Casey Clinger (BYU) 28:58.7. 8, Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma St) 28:59.9. 9, Parker Wolfe (North Carolina) 29:00.4. 10, Ky Robinson (Stanford) 29:07.4.
NOTRE DAME: 18, Carter Solomon 29:18.8 … 63, Izaiah Steury 29:52.3 … 103, Jake Renfree 30:13.7 … 142, Quinn Gallagher 30:33.2 … 199, Carter Cheeseman 31:02.0 … 222, Matthew Carmody 31:29.1 … 231, Kevin Berry 31:38.2.