Iowa City Today

The University of Iowa cross country teams are set to compete at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Friday morning at Burke Golf Course in Notre Dame. The event will begin with the women’s 5,000-meter race at 8:50 a.m., followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race. Admission is free.

In their previous outing, the Hawkeyes participated in the Roy Griak Invite in Minneapolis. The women’s team finished fourth with 140 points, led by sophomore Elena Torres who placed 15th with a time of 22:13.5. The men’s team secured sixth place with 182 points, and redshirt sophomore Luke Knepp was their top finisher in the 8,000 meters with a time of 26:06.7.

Elena Torres received recognition as Big Ten Women’s Athlete of the Week after her performance at the Hawkeye Invite, where she won the 4,000 meters in a personal-best time of 13:44.6. Luke Knepp earned the men’s award two weeks later for leading Iowa at the Roy Griak Invite.

Torres has led Iowa's women's team in both races this season. Senior Jalyssa Blazek finished third at the Hawkeye Invite and has consistently been among Iowa's top two finishers in recent meets; she is tied for eighth all-time at Iowa. Sophomore Hillary Trainor set a new personal record for seventh place at the Hawkeye Invite and was third among Iowa women at Roy Griak.

On the men's side, Knepp has led his group through both races so far this season. Freshman Elias Arbuckle placed sixth in his collegiate debut at the Hawkeye Invite with a time of 18:09.0—ranking him fifth all-time at Iowa—and has been among the top ten freshmen finishers in both meets this year. Kyle Montgomery moved into seventh all-time at Iowa after finishing seventh (18:11.3) in that same opener and was second among Hawkeye men to finish at Roy Griak.

Iowa added four newcomers to its roster this fall: freshmen Owen Wolfe, Spencer Alf and Elias Arbuckle joined the men’s team while Emma Magallan joined on the women’s side. Last season saw significant contributions from first-year athletes as well; Torres was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice and September Woman Athlete of the Month for her performances last year.

Of Iowa's current cross country roster of 23 athletes, most hail from within state lines; fifteen are from Iowa itself while others represent Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Indiana and Colorado.

At last year's Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (2023), junior Max Murphy led Iowa's men into a strong field by finishing within the top-20 over five miles; meanwhile Jalyssa Blazek paced Iowa's women to fifteenth place overall and improved her best mark by more than ninety seconds.

Fans can follow live results or access exclusive content about University of Iowa Cross Country through their official social media channels or via hawkeyesports.com/tracklive.

After Friday's competition, both teams will next compete on Saturday, October 18th at Pre-Nationals in Columbia, Missouri starting from 10:00 a.m.