MU Cross Country to Compete at National Catholic Invite

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University men's and women's cross country teams will be competing in the National Catholic Invite hosted by Notre Dame on Friday, Sept. 16. The Golden Eagles return to South Bend, Indiana for the first time since 2017 when both the men and women took third place.

This trip will be the first of two that the Golden Eagles will make to Notre Dame this season. After a week off of competition, MU will return to South Bend on Friday, Sept. 30 for the Joe Piane Invite.

"Our back-to-back meets at Notre Dame are going to be great opportunities to continue moving forward with the program," said head coach Sean Birren. "This week will be another hot one so we will need to be diligent with our race strategy, but I'm excited to see what we've learned from the last few weeks."

Races at Burke Golf Course will begin at 2:30 p.m. CT with the women's 5k championship race. The men's 5-mile championship race will follow. An award ceremony will conclude the event.

The field will feature six schools including Marquette, Notre Dame, Detroit Mercy, Canisius, Duquesne and Saint Francis.

Last Time Out
Both the men and women are coming off fourth-place finishes in the Phoenix Invitational at Green Bay.

Sophomore Tyler Re lead the men finishing first for MU and taking fourth overall with a time of 27:16.9. David Zeller (27:45.9) and Thomas Leonard (27:58.5) both finished in the top 15 taking 11th and 13th, respectively.

Both Zak Kindl (28:24.0) and Jadon Conroy (28:26.7) cracked the top-20 taking 17th and 18th, respectively, to complete MU's top five runners.

On the women's side, Kate Jochims finished first for the Golden Eagles for the second week in a row with a time of 24:32.6 to take sixth place. Sophomore Audrey Grimm crossed the line second for Marquette, 24th overall, and has finished in MU's top five in the first two meets this season.

Mallory Lafever (27th), Lexi Keppler (30th) and Marissa Valentini (36th) were the final three scores for MU, finishing out their top five.

Up Next:

The Golden Eagles will be off competition next weekend but will be hosting the MUTFXC Alumni Run on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Doyne Park at 4 p.m. Register for the alumni run here.

MU will return to action on Friday, September 30 when they travel back to Notre Dame for the Joe Piane Invite.

"I'm excited for a few weeks down the road, when the weather cools to more appropriate temperatures for cross country, and we can see the true fitness gauge from the second Notre Dame meet," said Coach Birren.

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).

Travel Party/Entries:
Men:
Grant Brawley
Jadon Conroy
Zak Kindl
Thomas Leonard
Tyler Re
Dan Weizeorick
David Zeller

Women:
Emily Capper
Audrey Grimm
Kate Jochims
Gianna Konen
Mallory Lafever
Stephanie Mauzer
Laurel Moneysmith
Emily Noone
Anna Penzkover
Gretchen Pfeiffer
Mikaela Sullivan
Marissa Valentini