Ohio Heads to Notre Dame Invitational
 
Three Straight for Leon?

 
 
 

 
Craig Leon is used to leading the pack this season, winning both races thus far in 2007.
 

 

Sept. 26, 2007

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ATHENS, Ohio - Senior Craig Leon will try for three straight first place finishes on Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.

Leon (Van Wert) placed first overall in the men's 8k events at the Mel Brodt Invite on Sept. 15 and the Ohio Invitational on Sept. 22 and leads the Bobcats into their third meet of the 2007 season looking for a third consecutive victory.

But the Notre Dame Invite presents stiff competition from more than 50 different schools.

The massive annual event breaks teams into two divisions - the top-tier Blue Division and the second-tier Gold Division. The Ohio men's team will compete in the Gold Division while the women's team will race in Blue Division.

Of the 54 total schools slated to compete, fifteen are currently ranked in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top-30 poll. On the men's side, ranked teams include No. 10 North Carolina State, No. 11 Providence and No. 13 Notre Dame. On the women's side the top-10 is well represented with No. 2 Michigan, No. 6 Illinois and No. 9 Providence. North Carolina State won the men's Blue Division team championship in 2006 and Michigan won the women's Blue Division team title last year.

The Ohio women's team has won the Notre Dame Invitational twice in its history, the most recent coming in 1989.

In 2006, the Ohio women's finished 18th out of 19 teams in the Blue Division and Carime Reinhart's 17:45 earned her 52nd overall and the best Bobcat finish. Melissa Hornor, who took seventh at the Ohio Invitational, finished 101st last season, which was third best for Ohio.
 

 

Reinhart (Boscom), Kari Summers (Troy), Annie Beecham (Granville) and other top Ohio women's runners will get back to competition after resting during the Ohio Invitational.

The Notre Dame Invitational has run continuously since its inception in 1956 with the host Fighting Irish winning the men's competition 15 times and Michigan taking home eight titles. Notre has compiled an all-time high six team victories in the women's event, which was added in 1987.

The men compete on a five mile course and the women run a normal 5k race.

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Joe Waltasti is the cross country contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at waltasti@ohio.edu and in the office at 740-593-0054.