Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 DECEMBER 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS C ross country standout Anna Rohrer finished off a strong soph- omore campaign with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. In the process, she helped the Irish place 11th with a total of 338 points — the fifth-best showing in the program's 15 appearances in the event. Rohrer led the way for most of the 6,000-meter race and clocked a time of 19 minutes and 44.6 seconds, but eventually finished behind Missouri junior Karissa Schweizer (19:41.6) and Michigan senior Erin Finn (19:44.2). At last year's national race, Rohrer crossed the finish line sixth. With this year 's effort, the soph- omore recorded the second-fastest women's 6,000-meter time in Notre Dame history. Former Irish NCAA champion Molly Seidel (19:28.6) owns the record. Rohrer — a local product from Mishawaka, Ind., who won the 2016 ACC title — said she was happy with her performance, but disappointed she couldn't hold on to the lead. "My emotions crossing the finish line were mixed because I obviously wanted to win," Rohrer said. "At the same time, I knew I ran as hard as I could, so I'm happy." On the day of the race, the weather was unforgiving. It was a cool 45 degrees with a whipping wind, but Rohrer said the conditions didn't de- ter her one bit. "It was a tough race where we pushed the pace the whole time, but that's when I run my best," Rohrer said. "I think the cold, windy condi- tions worked in my favor since I live in the Midwest. "I enjoy the rough conditions be- cause it makes me feel tough." Out of 250 runners in the 2016 field, Notre Dame had three of the top 60. Sophomore Annie Heffernan finished 41st with a time of 20:24, while graduate student Danielle Ara- gon came in 52nd with a time 20:32 in the last race of her Notre Dame cross country career. Running alongside Aragon as she put an exclamation point on her time with the Irish was her younger sister, Stanford freshman Christina Aragon, who finished 38th with a time of 20:23. Aragon said sharing the course with her younger sister at the NCAA Championships was a unique opportunity she won't soon forget. "It's pretty special," she said. "If you would have told me I would be in the top 60 my freshman or sopho- more year — I was the team alter- nate — and I'd be running with my sister at one point in the race, I'd be [happy]." ✦ Irish Roundup FENCING Three Irish fencers took home gold medals at the Penn State Open Nov. 19-20 in University Park, Pa. For the men, sophomore Alex Kiefer went 10-1 in two rounds of pool play en route to gold. Freshman Zachary Zeller took home the bronze. For the women, senior Lee Kiefer and sophomore Amanda Sirico both took gold, going 15-1 and 12-4 in pool play, respectively. The Irish return to action at the Div. I/Div. II NAC Dec. 2-5 at Richmond, Va. MEN'S SOCCER (12-6-2, 3-3-2 ACC) The No. 13-seeded Irish recorded a 1-0 win over visiting Loyola (Ill.) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Nov. 20. The decisive goal came off the foot of junior forward and ACC Offensive Player of the Year Jon Gallagher in the 78th minute — his 13th marker of the season — with the assist coming from senior midfielder/forward Mark Gormley. Senior goalkeeper Chris Hubbard made his one and only save of the night in the final minutes to preserve the victory. Notre Dame will hit the road to face No. 4-seeded Louisville in a third-round matchup Nov. 27. VOLLEYBALL (20-10, 11-7 ACC) The Irish concluded their road schedule by notching a 3-0 win at Clemson Nov. 18 before falling 3-0 at Georgia Tech Nov. 20. Notre Dame will finish the regular season with home matches versus Boston College Nov. 23 and Syracuse Nov. 25. — David McKinney After finishing sixth at the NCAA Championships as a rookie last year, Rohrer posted a third-pace finish this season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Cross Country's Anna Rohrer Leads Irish to No. 11 National Finish