Youngstown State University
Joe Piane Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational
Penguins Set to Compete at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational; Men Earn Invite to Blue Race
9/27/2023 11:15:00 AM | Cross Country
The Youngstown State men's and women's cross country programs will return to competition at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. on Friday.
The men were invited to compete in the Blue Race at the Invitational for the first time since 1995 and just the second time in program history. The men's 5-mile Blue-Division Race will take place at 11:15 a.m while the women will compete in the 5k Gold Race that is set to begin at 12:45 p.m. The races will take place at the Burke Golf Course on the campus of Notre Dame.
Race Schedule
10:30 am Women's Blue Division – 5,000 Meters
11:15 am Men's Blue Division – 5 Miles
12:00 pm Men's & Women's Open Division – 5 Miles / 5,000 Meters
12:45 pm Women's Gold Division – 5,000 Meters
1:30 pm Men's Gold Division – 5 Miles
Penguins Participants
Men's Blue (9):
Owen Brady
Thomas Caputo
Hunter Christopher
Tyler Clark
Ty Coon
Blaze Fichter
Tobias Jones
Ryan Meadows
Connor Shingleton/Luke Baun
Men's Open (7):
Keegan Barnette
Luke Baun/Connor Shingleton
Beau Gorby
William Hanchosky
Thomas Hunyadi
Riley Jackson
Sage Vavro
Women's Gold (8):
Kenzy Beckett
Morgan Cole
Alayna Cuevas
Malena Cybak
Alyssa Deeds
Molly Hopple
Grace Rhoades
Hannah Wagner
Competing Teams
The men's Blue Race will feature 17 teams: Akron, Alabama, Charlotte, Florida State, Furman, Kansas, Michigan State, Montana State, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Southern Utah, Tulane, Washington State, Weber State, Wichita State, and Youngstown State.
Four teams competing in the Blue Race are nationally ranked in the top-30 teams across the country. Notre Dame leads competitors ranked ninth nationally while NC State is ranked 21st. Alabama and Montana State are ranked 27th and 28th, respectively, to round out a talented field competing in the Blue Division at Notre Dame
18 schools will compete in the women's Gold Race: Akron, Cleveland State, High Point, IUPUI, James Madison, Loyola Marymount, Northern Illinois, Oakland, Otterbein, Richmond, Santa Clara, St. Thomas (Minn.), University of Chicago, UW-Green Bay, Valparaiso, Western Illinois, Western Michigan, and Youngstown State.
The YSU women will face four Horizon League competitors in the Gold Race: Cleveland State, IUPUI, Oakland, and UW-Green Bay. The Penguins, placing third, finished just one-point behind Oakland at the Horizon League Championships in 2022 while IUPUI finished fourth.
Last Time Out
The Penguins were last in action at the Penn State Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational when they opened the season on September 8. YSU is coming off a three-week hiatus headed into Notre Dame.
At Penn State, Morgan Cole led the women's squad with a top-10 finish in the 6k. She clocked a 21:35.1 to place 10th overall in a talented poll of 75 runners. Newcomer Alyssa Deeds was the next Penguin to cross the line, finishing 47th with a time of 23:19.6. Aiamyia Dudley placed 56th, clocking a 23:53.0. Close behind Dudley was Hannah Wagner, running a time of 23:53.6 for 57th place. Alayna Cuevas rounded out the scoring effort for the Penguins, finishing 61st with a time of 24:08.1.
As a team, the women finished with 151 points for sixth place. Penn State earned the team victory while Syracuse placed second.
In the men's 5.2 mile, redshirt freshman Owen Brady led the way as four Penguins placed in the top 50. Brady clocked a 26:36.0 in his Penguin debut for a 33rd-place finish. Close behind Brady was Tobias Jones who placed 35th with a time of 26:39.9. Tyler Clark was next to cross the finish line, running a time of 26:43.2 for 39th place. Also in the top 50 was Thomas Caputo who clocked a 26:46.3 en route to a 42nd-place finish. Rounding out the scoring effort for the men was redshirt freshman Blaze Fichter, who clocked a 27:04.5 for 51st place.
Overall, the men finished sixth with 163 points in a talented poll of 72 runners. Winning the invitational was Syracuse followed by Pittsburgh in second.
Up Next
The Penguins are set to compete at the Bill Lennox Slippery Rock Invitational in Slippery Rock, Pa. on Saturda,y Oct. 7. The women's 6k begins at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by the men's 8k at 11:15 a.m.
For live updates and results throughout the 2023 season, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on Twitter.
