Sept. 30, 2016
Event: Notre Dame Invitational (61st annual)
Day, Date: Friday, Sept. 30
Host: Notre Dame
Site: Notre Dame (Burke 9-hole Golf Course)
Results: HERE
Women’s Blue race (PDF): WomensBlueResults 
Open Race (PDF): OpenRaceResults
Men’s Gold race (PDF): MensGoldrace
Competing against their highest level of competition of the season, the No. 24-ranked Vanderbilt women — paced by Sara Tsai — finished 18th in the Women’s Blue Division 5k at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday.
Tsai, who also paced the Commodores in their first two races this season, finished 43rd overall with a time of 17:03.70.
Maddie Criscione was next for the Commodores, finishing 83rd at 17:32.40. Reagan Anderson was 85th at 17:33.30, Megan Huebner was 104th at 17:45.7 and Mailin Struck was 124th at 17:57.1.
The Commodores endured some tough luck during the race, but head coach Steve Keith said his team will grow from the adversity.
“We had one runner who lost a shoe, and we had three who fell at about 600-700 meters into the race which had us running from behind,” said Keith. “No excuses, however, as that happens in cross country and you have to deal with it. … The field was much deeper than last year, and it was difficult working back up into the field.”
The Women’s Blue race featured an immensely-talented field that included seven ranked teams — highlighted by three of the nation’s top-5 squads — along with seven teams who received votes in this week’s USTFCCCA poll.
Top-ranked Providence won the race with 117 points. Ole Miss was highest SEC finisher, taking seventh with 187 points.
The list of ranked teams in the Women’s Blue race included No. 1 Providence, No. 2 New Mexico, No. 5 N.C. State, No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 24 Vanderbilt, No. 28 Utah and No. 29 Yale, along with seven additional teams who received votes in this week’s poll (Weber State, Minnesota, Eastern Michigan, Ole Miss, California, Texas and Wisconsin).
Vanderbilt had three representatives in the Open Race (Women 5k / Men 5-mile). Ginger Hutton ran to an impressive 10th-place finish with a time of 17:53.90, and Reagan Bustamante was 26th at 18:28.00. Representing the Vanderbilt men, Waqqas Fazili posted a time of 27:24.30.
“Ginger had a great race, placing in the top-10 and running a personal best 5k time,” said Keith.
In the Men’s Gold 5-mile race, Vanderbilt freshmen Andrew Irvine led the way for the Commodores, finishing 66th overall with a time of 25.49.90. Nikolaos Gkotsis took 86th at 26:06.00 for the Commodores, who finished 20th in the team standings.
Jake Van Geffen was third for Vanderbilt, taking 93rd at 26:08.80, and was followed by Evan Suzman (97th at 26:11.20) and Caleb Casolaro (102nd at 26:14.70).
“It was good to see the men run their closest group in quite a while, with a gap of of 25 seconds,” said Keith. “Some of our young ones stepped up, which was good to see on a day when some of upperclassmen had a tough race.”
The Vanderbilt men and women will have an open date next weekend before their next races on Oct. 14, when the women compete in the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisc., and the men travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Alabama Invitational.
Vanderbilt results: Women’s Blue Division (5k)
43. Sara Tsai 17:03.70
83. Maddie Criscione 17:32.40
85. Reagan Anderson 17:33.30
104. Megan Huebner 17:45.70
124. Mailin Struck 17:57.10
135. Devon Grisbaum 18:05.70
153. Lauren Moffett 18:16.80
165. Kendall Derry 18:30.30
175. Courtney Kriegshauser 18:47.40
Team Results: Women’s Blue Division (5k)
1. Providence 117
2. North Carolina St. 149
3. Eastern Michigan 159
4. New Mexico 166
5. Baylor 169
6. Utah 171
7. Mississippi 187
8. Notre Dame 208
9. California 219
10. Minnesota 285
11. Air Force 312
12. Purdue 319
13. Boston College 391
14. Florida State 396
15. Alabama 402
16. Texas 407
17. Weber State 409
18. Vanderbilt 429
19. Oregon State 438
20. North Carolina 466
21. Clemson 471
22. Texas A&M 490
23. Nebraska 663
Vanderbilt results: Men’s Gold (5-mile)
66. Andrew Irvine 25:49.90
86. Nikolaos Gkotsis 26:06.00
93. Jake Van Geffen 26:08.80
97. Evan Suzman 26:11.20
102. Caleb Casolaro 26:14.70
112. Harrison Thomas 26:20.90
143. Sam DeFabrizio 26:50.10
148. Dan Arthur 26:58.10
154. Jason Vincze 27:02.60
Team Results: Men’s Gold (5 mile)
1. Utah Valley 114
2. Duquesne 120
3. IUPUI 141
4. Youngstown St. 142
5. Eastern Illinois 153
6. Clemson 168
7. Illinois State 245
8. Bowling Green 264
9. Indiana State 285
10. Calvin 286
11. Loyola (Ill.) 317
12. Oakland 322
13. Belmont 356
14. Northern Iowa 357
15. Wis.-Oshkosh 372
16. Marshall 389
17. Northern Kentucky 399
18. Central Michigan 435
19. Murray State 436
20. Vanderbilt 444
21. Southern Illinois 492
22. Wis.-Stevens Point 494
23. UNC-Greensboro 514
24. Valparaiso 647
Vanderbilt results: Open Race (Women 5K; Men 5 miles)
WOMEN
10. Ginger Hutton 17:53.90
26. Reagan Bustamante 18:28.00
MEN
52. Waqqas Fazili 27:24.30
