Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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74 PRESEASON 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE H ighlighted by a surprising ACC championship in men's cross county, an eighth-place national fin- ish in women's cross country and a run to the Elite Eight in men's soccer, the Fighting Irish fall Olympic sports teams provided more than their share of highlights and successes in 2018. In fact, with football included, the 180 points compiled during the fall of 2018 in the Learfield IMG Direc- tors' Cup Standings — a competition that's scored based on the finishes of each university's athletic teams — Notre Dame ranked ninth-best in the country. With the 2019 fall season set to be- gin, expectations for the Irish have only grown with the successes from last year to build upon. Following is a preview of the Olympic fall sports teams at Notre Dame: men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball. MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY First Event: Sept. 6, Crusader Open (Valparaiso, Ind.) ACC Predicted Finish: 1st Preseason National Ranking: N/A NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Top-10 finish Coach's Expectations: With all five of his top runners back from last year, second-year Irish director of track & field and cross country Matt Sparks is looking to parlay the successes of last year — an ACC title, a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships and the first top-10 ranking for Notre Dame in more than a decade — into even grander results this season. The greatest challenge in 2019, Sparks said, is to guard against any complacency because the reigning conference champions go from the hunter to the hunted this season. "Last year, I think we found suc- cess running with kind of a chip on our shoulder," said Sparks, who earned ACC Coach of the Year hon- ors in his first season as head coach. "We knew we had a good team, but we felt like we had to prove it. This year is different. Now we're the team with the target on our backs." Top Runner: As a true freshman last season, Danny Kilrea paced Notre Dame and became the top rookie finisher in the nation at the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wis., finishing 33rd with a time of 29:55.2. Athlete To Watch: With a year of competition under his belt, sopho- more Yared Nuguse, who finished 59th in the national meet last season and third in the ACC Champion- ships, should be a force this fall. He was named BGI's Male Athlete of the Year for 2018-19 after win- ning the 1,500 meters (3:41.38) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to become the first Irish outdoor cham- pion in track since Ryan Shay won the 10,000 meters in 2001. Nuguse also anchored Notre Dame's distance medley relay team last indoor season that won a national title. Don't Miss: On Nov. 1, Notre Dame will head to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., to try and defend its 2018 ACC title. WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY First Event: Sept. 6, Crusader Open (Valparaiso, Ind.) ACC Predicted Finish: 3rd Preseason National Ranking: N/A NCAA Best-Case Scenario: Top-15 finish Coach's Expectations: After a ter- rific eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships last year, Sparks has some rebuilding to do. And behind the leadership of standout fifth-year senior Anna Rohrer, Sparks believes that his new-look and youthful Irish Fall Teams Ready For An Encore Fifth-year senior Anna Rohrer has a chance to be one of the nation's best runners. Last season, she earned All-America honors by finishing 10th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA