Sooners Set for Notre Dame Meet

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's and women's cross country teams travel to Notre Dame, Ind., this weekend to compete at the 63rd annual Joe Piane Invitational. The meet will begin Friday at 12 p.m. CT at the Burke Golf Course on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

“We're excited for the chance to test ourselves,” said OU associate head cross country coach Kevin Ondrasek. “We're looking forward to the meet due to there being four teams in the top five in their respective regions on the men's side and eight on the women's side in the top five in their regions.

“For the women, this meet will serve as a litmus test to see who we are. Eight of the top nine are freshmen so we're looking for an identity, so we can really start getting better and start going to work. We're going to get all we want out of the competition." Ondrasek added, "For the men, they're unproven, but they feel like they belong to be up there in the top-five regional ranks. They're going to get their chance this weekend against some schools where we want to be.”

The Sooners return to the course after a strong season-opening meet at the Hurricane Invitational in Tulsa, Okla. The women's team won the competition behind three top-10 individual finishes from freshmen Haley Herberg, Elise Boisvert and Reagan Kappel. The men's squad took third, paced by two top-10 finishers in freshman Eric Casarez and senior Jacob Janzen. In this week's USTFCCCA regional rankings, the Sooners' women's team checked in at No. 5 in the Midwest region, while the men are ranked No. 13.

Results from the Joe Piane Invitational will be available on Endurance Race Timing and SoonerSports.com following the meet.

JOE PIANE-NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
Blue Division Women's 5K: 12 p.m. CT
Blue Division Men's 5 mile: 12:45 p.m. CT
Venue: Burke Golf Course; Notre Dame, Ind.
Field: 39 teams (37 women's teams; 31 men's)
OU Women Competing: Elise Boisvert, Haley Herberg, Jordyn Kaplan, Reagan Kappel, Morgan Long, Khloe Pointer
OU Men Competing: Eric Casarez, Andrew Doherty, Zach Gentry, Luke George, Jacob Janzen, Derek King, Heath Warren

UP NEXT
The Sooners travel to College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M-Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 13.

CONNECT WITH THE SOONERS
For more information on Oklahoma cross country, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Track) and like Oklahoma Sooners Track & Field and Cross Country on Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Elise Boisvert

Eric Casarez

Andrew Doherty

Zach Gentry

Luke George

Haley Herberg

Jacob Janzen

Jordyn Kaplan

Reagan Kappel

Derek King

Morgan Long

Khloe Pointer

Heath Warren

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University of Oklahoma Athletics