Cross Country Heads to South Bend for Notre Dame Invitational

CLEMSON, SC – The men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action for Clemson this weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational. Both teams are scheduled for the gold division races at the 58th running of the event, with the women’s event covering a 5K distance and the men’s an 8K run. The women’s race will be held at 2:00 on Friday, followed by the men’s competition.This will be the third meet of the season for the Tigers, who competed at Furman in Greenville, SC on Sept. 14 and in Kernersville, NC at the Wake Forest Invitational on Sept. 20. The women’s team finished second at Furman, while the men took third place at the Pre-ACC race at Wake Forest.Friday’s meet will be held at the Notre Dame Golf Course. Between two divisions and four total races, over 1,200 runners will compete on Friday in South Bend. Clemson’s women have competed without Natalie Anthony in two meets, and the same five runners scored for the Tigers in both meets. Cara Talty has placed in Clemson’s top two in both races so far this season.On the men’s side, the Tigers have been led by Roland Hakes. Through two races, he owns a pair of top-10 individual finishes. He set a personal best at Furman and followed with a fourth place showing at Wake Forest. Last time out, Mark Elliott‘s team welcomed its top returning athlete to action in red-shirt junior Aaron Ramirez. An all-region performer last fall, Ramirez opened the 2013 campaign with a 12th-place effort at Wake Forest.