On Friday, The University of Notre Dame is slated to kick off their second home meet of the season on what could arguably be on one of the fastest courses in the country: The Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.

Hosted by the current NCAA Division I Great Lakes Regional champions for both men and women, the Fighting Irish are set to host teams from several different parts of the country across all three NCAA divisions including many ranked teams and athletes.

With that being said, it looks like we will see every team pull out their aces tomorrow morning in South Bend, Indiana.

• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division I
• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division II
• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division III

Notre Dame Ready to Defend Home Turf

While many are looking forward to Saturday Night Lights at Notre Dame Stadium, the mileage goblins are setting early alarms and getting ready for Friday Morning Miles. The Fighting Irish are looking to be the favorites to sweep the team score victories tomorrow in the 'Blue' races with the men racing 8k and women racing 5k.

Looking back at last years' results, the Notre Dame women took second last year behind Michigan State who will not be in attendance this year. Regardless, looking at the last two competitions so far, the women remain undefeated after two meets with an astounding low-combined score of just 37 points; Winrow-Valparaiso Open (22) and their home opener, 2025 National Catholic Invite (15). 

Notably with the Winrow-Valparaiso Open, if redshirts were included in scoring then it would've been a perfect 15, as Rosie Mucharsky, Chloe Huyler, and Helen Sachs went 1-2-3 in late-August. Additionally, that lineup was made of only underclassmen. The women will be returning 6 of their 7 from last year's regional lineup: Siona Chisholm, Mary Bonner Dalton, Isabel Allori, Gretchen Farley, Caroline Lehman, and Sophie Novak

For the men, they will be looking to go back-to-back on top of the team scores. Last year they managed to clinch a huge win above notable programs including multi-time national champions Northern Arizona and California Baptist Universit (CBU).

Similar to the women, they remain undefeated after two competitions, with two perfect 15-point team score. Their lineup for Friday morning will be something to look out for, as they have only one senior in the lineup (Dylan Throop) and bring back five of the seven from last year: Izaiah Steury, Kevin Sanchez, Ethan Coleman, Daelen Ackley, and CJ Singleton. 

Grand Valley Aims to Make Statement

After a huge second place finish for the men and third place finish for the women at the MSU - Auto Owners Spartan Invitational, the Lakers are looking to continue the momentum against the Power 4 programs on Friday. The program has the most amount of athletes entered for the Blue race on both sides (21 women, 21 men).

The Lakers potentially have the strongest lineup for Friday, despite being mostly made up of underclassmen.

On the women's side, the 2024 NCAA DII XC National Champion return five of the seven from last year's fourth place finish at nationals. Lauren Kiley leads the crew followed by Allie Arnsman, Abby VanderKooi, Annika Sandman, and Maggie O'Malley followed what looks to be Natalie Mello and Cara Newman.

For the men, despite taking a decent hit with only returning three of their seven (Koby Fraaza, Owen Westerkamp, and Brock Wooderson); they've added Bahozhoni Church, Sebastian Ramirez, and Conor Somers, who were all in the Top-Five at MSU back in early September. Additionally, Andre Richmond will be one to look out for, as he set a huge personal best of 14:07.56 back on the track for 5000m back in the spring.

Small Division but Big Hearts for UW-La Crosse.

After demolishing the Men's Gold Race by almost 100 points at last year's edition of the Joe Piane Invitational, the 2024 NCAA DIII National Champions will be looking to take the fight to the big dogs in the Men's Blue 8k.

The NCAA DIII powerhouse returns six of seven from last year's national championship team, and this has been apparent as it brought out its aces in a huge victory at St. Olafs Invitational, putting five in the top ten, with seven in the top 15.

Highlighted by the Matthai twins, Grant and Aidan, and Jayden Zywicki, the men will be put to the test against notable programs including, as previously mentioned, Notre Dame, and Grand Valley State.

Looking deeper into the lineup slated for Friday, Chuck Vater (14:23.16 5k, 29:58.66 10k), Adam Loenser (14:06.63 5k), and Joey Sullivan (14:14.60) with a host sophomores and freshmen to join the flock on the starting line.

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Notable Teams

University of Notre Dame (Women - DI #8 // Men - DI #18)

University of South Carolina (Women - DI #32)

Grand Valley State University (Women - DII #2 // Men - DII #5)

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (Men - DIII #1)

University of Chicago (Women - DIII #4 // Men - DIII #22)

Notable Athletes

Ethan Coleman (Notre Dame) - DI #31 - Men

Siona Chisholm (Notre Dame) - DI #40 - Women

Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State) - DII #8 - Men

Owen Westerkamp (Grand Valley State) - DII #46 - Men

Lauren Kiley (Grand Valley State) - DII #3 - Women

Allie Arnsman (Grand Valley State) - DII #21 - Women

Abby VanderKooi (Grand Valley State) - DII #25 - Women

Maggie O'Malley (Grand Valley State) - DII #48 - Women

Grant Matthai (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #2 - Men

Aidan Matthai (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #5 - Men

Joey Sullivan (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #7 - Men

Adam Loenser (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #11 - Men

Chuck Vater (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #30 - Men

Aidan Manning (UW - La Crosse) - DIII #44 - Men

Sanju Patel (U. of Chicago) - DIII #41 - Men

Estelle Snider (U. of Chicago) - DIII #19 - Women

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