Youngstown State University
Notre Dame Invitational
Hamilton Places Sixth At Prestigous Notre Dame Invitational
10/4/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Notre Dame, Ind. - The Youngstown State cross country teams had a strong performance on Friday afternoon at the 58th annual Notre Dame Invitational. The top performers for the Penguins were senior Samantha Hamilton finishing in sixth place in the 5K and junior Eric Rupe placing 35th in the five-mile race.
Hamilton's performance in the women's 5K was the best individual placing by a Penguin in school history at the Notre Dame Invitational. She posted a time of 17:12.9 in a strong field on a hot and humid afternoon where temperatures were unseasonably high in the mid-80s. Hamilton was just two seconds outside of placing in the top five in the event which featured a group of 198 top-flight runners and 24 teams. Duke's Juliet Bottorf won with a time of 16:43.8 and was one of just two competitors to go under 17 minutes.
Through the first month-plus of the campaign, Hamilton ranks in the top 20 in NCAA Division I in the 5K.
The women finished 21st out of 24 teams scoring 475 points. Florida State won the Blue race. The Guins finished in front of UAB, Southern Utah and UTEP on Friday.
Junior Anna Pompeo was the next Penguin to cross the finish line placing 74th with a personal-best performance of 18:16.5. Following Pompeo was senior Monica Ciarniello coming in at 88th with a time of 18:23.0 for the Guins.
Brittany Stockmaster ran a strong 19:16 to lock down the fourth spot for YSU (170th overall) and freshman Libby Rogenski ran a 19:17 to latch the fifth spot for the Guins (172nd). Other finishers for the Penguins included McKinsie Klim (19:24, 175th), Megan Monte (19:53, 187th), and Katie Heney (20:06, 190th).
The men had a solid all-around performance in the Gold Race placing 16th out of 23 teams in the Golf Race with 411 points. Rupe led the way placing 35th in a time of 26.24.5 out of 190-plus runners.
Other finishers for the Penguins included Austin McLean (51st) who ran a 26:45, Nick Gliha (80th) at 27:07, John Hutnyan (121) with a 27:57 and Jon Richmond (123) at 28:02. YSU finished ahead of UIC, Valparaiso and Green Bay from the Horizon League at the meet.
Head Coach Brian Gorby said he was impressed with the way the Penguins runners handled a warm and challenging environment on Friday.
"UAB, Southern Utah and UTEP were all highly ranked in their respective regions on the women's side," Gorby said. "The women hope to move back into the top 15 in the region this week. It was very impressive what Samantha, Anna and Monica did placing in the top 100."
"For the men it was a matter of survival running in 85-degree temperatures and 100-percent humidity," Gorby said.
The next time YSU runs will be at the Disney World Cross Country Classic in Orlando, Fla., next Saturday.
