Sept. 29, 2010

TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa men's and women's cross country teams will travel to South Bend, Ind., for its toughest test of the season up to this point. The Golden Hurricane will be running in the Notre Dame Invitational against a plethora of the nation's top teams Oct. 1. Both teams will run in the blue divisions, with the women's 5K race set for 3:15 p.m. and the men's 8K race set for 4 p.m.

The men's race features a field of eight nationally-ranked teams according to the most recent rankings in the USTFCCCA Division I National Poll.

There are 20 teams overall headlined by No. 3 Oregon and No. 5 Alabama. Also competing will be No. 14 Villanova, No. 16 New Mexico, No. 18 Arizona State, No. 21 Florida State, No. 27 Butler, and No. 30 UCLA. Washington is receiving votes and will also run.

As tough as the men's draw may appear, the women's field looks even more treacherous.

Of the 24 teams competing, 11 are ranked in the top 30 and three others are receiving votes. Four of the top five teams in the nation (No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Washington and No. 5 Oregon) are set to race, followed by No. 8 Princeton, No. 12 New Mexico, No. 19 UTEP, No. 21 BYU, No. 23 SMU, No. 24 Iowa, and No. 30 Notre Dame. Stony Brook, Arkansas and Penn State are all receiving votes and will race.

Senior Lewis Timmins is the fastest returning TU runner from last year's Notre Dame event. He finished 19th with a time of 24:16. Fellow senior Mark Davidson finished 42nd last year with a time of 24:35. The next closest member of the Golden Hurricane who is running this year was junior Carl Stones, who finished in 123rd with a time of 25:38.

The Tulsa men finished seventh overall out of 23 teams.

The women did not compete in Notre Dame in 2009. They did travel to South Bend in 2008, however, and placed 13th overall. The best returner from that race was then-sophomore Katie Wright who finished 37th in 17:18.