Printer-Friendly Format   E-mail this article     Senior Eddy Rodriguez is one of a number of Seminoles with intercollegiate expereince and the talent to face the tough competition at the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational.
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The level of competition rises with this meet in that the Seminoles will face teams from the ACC, Big Ten and PAC-10, all teams that should also return to Indiana for nationals in November.

Sept. 29, 2004

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Tallahassee, FL - The Florida State No. 26 men's and women's cross country teams head to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational. The race, which began in 1956, is one of the oldest and largest races in the nation. Top programs from across the country are entered among the four divisions.

The Tribe expect to get their first taste of tough competition this season when they face fellow ACC team Georgia Tech and rival Florida. On the men's side, eight teams were ranked in the top-30 of the MONDO preseason poll, including host Notre Dame (No. 29). No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 BYU, No. 11 Air Force, No. 12 Indiana, No. 20 Miami (OH) and No. 24 Butler (24) will also be among the competing teams. On the women's side, No. Stanford, host No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 6 Michigan are expected to race on Friday evening.

During the last meet, the Florida Intercollegiates, the Tribe used home court advantage to walk away with its second individual and team victories of the season on both sides. Five-time All-American Natalie Hughes (Grand Junction, CO/Palisade) and junior transfer Andrew Lemoncello (St. Andrews, Scotland/Stirling) won the individual titles, leading Florida State to team victories on both sides. The women's team swept the top five spots, posting the lowest possible score in a meet, 15 points. Every runner on the men's team finished in the top six to edge fellow NCAA South Region opponent Samford by three points, finishing with 30.

The women's blue division begins at 4:15 p.m. followed by the men's blue division at 5:00 p.m.