Notre Dame Hopes Shay Is An Inspiration

Irish run in Great Lakes Regional on Saturday in Indiana

Nov. 6, 2007

By Brett Hess

Special to CSTV.com

	Brett Hess Brett Hess covers Cross Country for CSTV.com E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TRACK/CROSS COUNTRY 11/19: Kipyego, Stanford Win As Expected 11/19: Blow For Blow To The Finish 11/16: Practically A Sure Thing 11/16: Championship Field Is A History Lesson In Motion 11/6: Irish Hope Shay Is An Inspiration 10/30: Louisville's Emergence Continues 10/23: No Margin For Error 10/16: Kuijken, FSU Race Toward Postseason 10/09: Liberty's McDougal Begins Run For Title 10/02: Rice Women Surprise At Notre Dame 9/25: Invitational Season In Full Swing 9/19: Still Pinching Herself 9/11: Kipyego, Barringer Are Favorites 9/4: Lomong and Rupp Lead Returnees 6/8: Texas Tech's Kipyego Closes In On History 6/7: Arizona's Arnold Sets Record in Decathlon 6/5: FSU Isn't Feeling The Pressure 6/5: Throwers Lead Sun Devils to Sacramento 5/29: Stars Shine at NCAA Regional Meets 5/26: Florida State Primed For East Regional Title 5/26: Top-Ranked LSU Women Trailing At Mideast Regional 5/22: Hastings Does It Her Way 5/15: Wisconsin, Omole Make History at Big Ten Meet 5/8: Notre Dame's Huddle Finishing Strong 5/1: Drake or Penn? Why Not Both? 4/24: Hokies Show Courage In Competing 4/17: Senioritis is Good for Diana Pickler 4/10: Little Longhorn With Big Heart 3/26: Patience Pays Off For Duke's Rowbury 3/20: Just Like The Movies 3/11: Solinsky Leads Wisconsin To First-Ever Track Title 3/11: Front-Running Sun Devils 3/11: Saluki Strong 3/9: The Dual Is On 3/9: Stevens Helps Pace Sun Devils To Early Lead 3/6: Outdoor Champ FSU Favored Indoors 3/5: Sun Devils Look to Take Next Step 2/20: As Belt Leaps Higher, So Does L'ville 2/6: Huskies Running Out In Front 11/19: Stanford's Aiming For Repeat 11/19: Wisconsin Favored To Defend Title

The postseason officially begins this Saturday for Division I cross country teams around the country, and no team will be running with more inspiration than Notre Dame.

The 22nd-ranked Fighting Irish will be running in the Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, Ind., just a week after former Notre Dame All-American Ryan Shay died at the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials.

"Ryan had a competitive attitude that exuded the belief that, `If you want to run well and want to try to beat me, it's going to hurt you,'" said Notre Dame coach Joe Piane after hearing of Shay's death.

According to Piane, Shay had visited with the current Notre Dame team last week on his way to New York City for the trials. Piane said that after graduating in 2002, Shay remained close to the program and was well-known by the team that will be running Saturday.

Notre Dame enters Saturday's meet as the second-highest ranked team in the field. Fourth-ranked Wisconsin heads the list that includes No. 23 Michigan and No. 30 Ohio State. The top two teams from the meet gain automatic entry into the NCAA National Championship meet on Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. There are nine regional meets throughout the country on Saturday. Along with the 18 automatic berths, there will be 13 at-large berths announced on Sunday.

Even if Notre Dame fails to place among the top two this Saturday, there is a very good chance the Irish will make the 31-team field on Nov. 19. Regular-season and conference meet results, along with Saturday's performance, determines at-large berths. Notre Dame won the National Catholic Championships and the Notre Dame Invitational before placing fifth at the Pre-National meet out of 40 teams in Terre Haute. Then the Irish placed fifth at the Big East Championships on Oct. 27.

The tragic death of Shay certainly makes the Irish a nationwide favorite to make the national meet. Shay was not only popular on the Notre Dame campus as a nine-time All-American and a two-time Academic All-American. Following his collegiate career, Shay was well-known and liked as a professional runner.

His impact certainly will help guide the current Irish this Saturday, but it is not known at this time how Notre Dame will honor Shay at the meet.

Men's Region Previews

The top meet figures to be in the West, with seven ranked teams headlining the region's field.

Top-ranked Oregon, conveniently, will be the meet's host in Eugene, Ore., as the Ducks will face Pac-10 rivals Stanford (No. 8) and California (No. 10). Also in the field looking to garner at-large berths are No. 20 Portland and No. 21 UCLA.

The Mountain Region, hosted by Weber State in Riverdale, Utah, may not have the depth of the West, but certainly has the headliners. No. 2 Northern Arizona and No. 3 UTEP must fend off perennial power and sixth-ranked Colorado along with No. 26 BYU.

Another top regional will be the Southeast, hosted by Louisville. No. 9 Virginia, hot off its ACC championship, will battle No. 11 North Carolina State and No. 13 Louisville, the Big East champion.

Bradley hosts the Midwest Region meet where No. 12 Oklahoma State will race No. 15 Minnesota and No. 18 Tulsa.

 Women's Region Previews

Two weeks ago in our conference meet previews we headlined the Pac-10 meet and for good reason. That has proven to be the strongest and deepest conference in the country. This Saturday, in Eugene, will be Round Two.

It's too bad that all these schools are in the same region. Perhaps it's a blessing for fans out West, though, as witnesses will see four of the top seven teams in the country.

Top-ranked Stanford will duel No. 2 Oregon once more while No. 5 Arizona State and No. 7 Washington will race for at-large berths.

But no other region comes close to the West's firepower. The Great Lakes meet has Big Ten and in-state rivals No. 8 Michigan State and No. 9 Michigan.

The Mid-Atlantic has depth behind No. 4 Princeton. No. 14 West Virginia, No. 20 Georgetown and No. 28 Penn State will be in the field at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

The South (University of Florida) has No. 3 Florida State and the Midwest has No. 6 Minnesota and No. 12 Illinois.