Men 3rd, Women 8th At Notre Dame Invite

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Eastern Illinois men's cross country turned in one of its best performances at the Notre Dame Invitational since the 1970's on Friday afternoon as the Panthers placed third in the men's Gold Division race.  EIU's women's team placed eighth in a competitive field as both teams returned to action for the first time since Sept. 11.
 
The EIU men were paced by Riley McInerney and Paxson Menard who both turned in top ten finishes for EIU on the 5-mile course.  McInerney had a time of 24:40.7 to place third overall just 10 seconds behind race winner Zach Plank of North Central.   James Quattlebaum of Clemson was second just edging McInerney by one second.  Menard placed seventh in the field with a time of 24:55.9.   Joe Calio was the men's third place finisher in 12th place with a time of 25:09.9.
 
Clemson won the men's Gold Division team title with 53 points followed by NCAA lower division power North Central in second with 88 points.  EIU was third with 115 with Northern Iowa fourth and Saint Louis fifth on the men's side.
 
"The men raced very well here today, the best EIU has raced at Notre Dame since the 1970's," said head coach Erin Howarth.  "We had seven lifetime best performances led by Riley and Paxson with sub-25 minute five mile times.  Joe Caliomoved from 27th most of the race closing to finish in 12th, earning him one of the races of the day."
 
Tyler Yunk and Juan Barajas closed out the five scored runners for EIU as Yunk placed 33rd with a time of 25:27.5.   Barajas was 60th at 25:49.2.   Barajas crossed less than a second ahead of teammate Greg Rogers as they raced to the finish line.  Rogers was 61st with a time of 25:49.9.   Derrick Johnson, Brock Ramos and Chris Orlow completed the group of EIU runners in the Gold Division race.
 
On the women's side Maria Baldwin continues to improve as the sophomore ran with some of the top runners in the field to finish seventh with a 5K time of 17:44.5.  The time was the fifth fastest in school history.  Maria McDaniel of Western Michigan pulled away from the field winning with a time of 16:58.4.  Katherine Turner of Butler was second.
 
"The women also had many lifetime bests today led by Maria Baldwin's finish," added Howarth.  "She was awesome today and is ready to continue to be a first team All-Conference contender."
 
Baldwin's effort helped the EIU women's team place eighth in the field with 197 points.  Butler won the women's Gold Division race with 108 points followed by Indiana State. 
 
Ivy Handley was the second EIU runner to cross the finish line in 27th place with a time of 18:14.2.  Jocelyne Mendoza, Amy Yeoman and Ruth Garippo rounded out the five scored EIU runners.  Mendoza was 49th with a time of 18:38.4.  Yeoman was 53rd with a time of 18:40.0  Garippo was 63rd at 18:45.4.  
 
Rachel Garippo, Victoria Quarton, Emily Brelsfoard and Quincy Knolhoff completed the Panther runners in the field.
 
In addition to competing in the Notre Dame Gold Division race, EIU had several runners compete in the open 5K.  Kristen Rohrer placed 20th for the women with a time of 18:32.1.  She was joined in the women's race by Julie James.  In the men's open 5-mile race Michael Brown, Bruyn Yunk and Reis Desantis competed for EIU.
 
"Kristen Rohrer would have been our third runner today out of the open race with her lifetime best performance earning her one of our races of the day," said Howarth.  "We are excited to continue progressing to the Bradley Pink Classic in two weeks."