Oct. 1, 2001

MILWAUKEE - The UWM cross country teams will travel to South Bend, Ind., on Friday to run in the Notre Dame Invitational. The Panthers will be looking to rebound after a pair of disappointing finishes on Saturday.

The women ran in the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago on Saturday and finished 11th out of 14 schools. Leading the way for the Panthers was junior Abby Hurst (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute), who placed tenth overall. She was followed by freshman Christine Wampach (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles), who placed 36th.

The men finished fourth out of five teams at the 78th annual Central Collegiate Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Freshman Steve Saul (Lisle, Ill./Benet Academy) led the Panthers with a 20th place finish. He was followed by freshman Bryan Hassemer (Mishicot, Wis./Mishicot), who finished 21st.

The men's team was not running at full strength in Kalamazoo, however. Seniors Pat Harrington (West Allis, Wis./Central) and Cornelius Hill (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) did not run, as they were resting for this weekend's event at Notre Dame.

Something New: The 5K course the women ran at the Lakefront Invitational was the first time they had run that distance in competition in 2001. The two previous meets were 6K at the Valparaiso Invitational and 8K at Al's Memorial Run.

The Panthers were also able to get their first look at the course at Montrose Harbor. The same course will be used for this year's Horizon League Championships.

More on the Lakefront: Host Loyola dominated their event, finishing first among Division I teams. The Ramblers had two of the race's top five runners, and had all five of their runners in the to 25 overall.

The Panthers finished ahead of fellow Horizon League member Cleveland State. The Vikings placed 13th in the 14 team field, and had their highest finisher place 76th.

More on Kalamazoo: Notre Dame sent their "B" team to the Central Collegiate Championships on Saturday and still took first place. The Irish had seven of the top ten finishers in the race. Their counting runners all placed in the top seven overall.

Scouting Notre Dame: The Panthers will see several Horizon League rivals at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. UIC, Loyola, UW-Green Bay and Youngstown State will all have runners competing.

Freshmen Contribute: UWM continues to get solid performances from this year's freshmen. On the men's side, Steve Saul continues to be one of the top Panther runners. Saul has placed in the top three among Panther finishers in each of the first three meets of the season, including the top finish at the Central Collegiate Championships.

Also impressive for the men has been Bryan Hassemer. Hassemer has two of the top ten times on the team this year.

For the women, Christine Wampach has been a consistent performer for coach Pete Corfeld. Wampach has counted in each of the Panther's two team-scored meets, and has the second-best time on the team in 5K.