At the Big East championship meet at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., the Notre Dame men's and women's teams finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the first installment of the postseason.
The men, who entered the meet ranked No. 13 in the USTFCCCA poll, finished with 93 points, 38 more than conference champion Louisville. Georgetown (60 points) and Providence (74 points) also finished in front of the Irish. Junior Patrick Smyth once again led the way for his team, finishing with a time of 23:28.50 and finishing third on the individual leaderboard. Senior Bobby Curtis of Villanova won the individual title with a time of 23:08.85.
Senior Jake Watson finished second for the Irish and 12th overall with a time of 24:05.65. Both Smyth and Watson received All-Big East honors for their efforts.
Senior Brett Adams (20th), sophomore Jake Walker (26th), and freshman Dan Jackson (32nd) rounded out the scoring for the Irish, while seniors Dan Curran (33rd) and Mike Popejoy (36th) posted two of the three fastest times in the meet that were not factored into team scores.
This was the 12th year of Big East competition for the Irish men, and they have never failed to finish in the top five in conference.
On the women's side, the Irish finished sixth with 142 points, while conference champion West Virginia finished with 77 points. Providence, Georgetown, Syracuse and Villanova rounded out the top five.
Sophomore Lindsey Ferguson posted the best time for the Irish, finishing in 21:13.35, good enough for 14th overall as well as All-Big East honors. Freshman Marissa Treece (26th), junor Becca Bauman (28th), and senior Ann Mazur (32nd) finished second, third and fourth for the Irish, respectively, separated by just over four seconds. Junior Emily Wauford was the fifth and final scorer, finishing 42nd overall with a time of 21:56.70.
Both the men and the women will be back in action on Nov. 10., when they will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet.
