Dawgs sweep Notre Dame Invitational...

NOTRE DAME, Indiana--The top ranked University of Washington Huskies continued right where they left off in 2008--at the top of the leaderboard, as the Huskies took the first four places in winning the team title at the Notre Dame Invitational cross country meet, scoring 33 points.

Sophomore Kendra Schaaf won her second consecutive race this season, stopping the clocks at 16:31 for the 5 kilometer distance.

Senior Katie Follett followed in 16:33, with junior Mel Lawrence third in 16:36, and sophomore Christine Babcock fourth in 16:39.

Junior Lauren Saylor rounded out the Husky scorers in 23rd, with a time of 17:12.

"Kendra and Christine got out pretty well while Katie and Mel were nice and patient," said head coach Greg Metcalf. "At two miles they were still running in packs, but then it started to spread out. Kendra got out in front and Christine, Mel and Katie ran together. They were able to run pretty easy to the finish line, and didn't have to go to the well today, so it was a solid effort."

Washington also won the men's team title (above/photo courtesy twitter.com/UWTrack) at the ND Invite in a close battle with the Providence Friars, with the Dawgs prevailing 113-119.

Kelly Spady, the winner of the Sundodger Invite two weeks ago, led the Huskies with his ninth place finish over the 8-kilometer course, running 24:05.

Fellow senior Colton Tully-Doyle was 13th in 24:09, then it was senior Jake Schmitt and redshirt freshman Joey Bywater crossing the line together in 28th and 29th at 24:22. Redshirt sophomore Max O'Donoghue-McDonald closed out the Husky scorers in 34th, four seconds behind Schmitt and Bywater.

"It was a large field with a lot of jostling early," said Metcalf. "Two-hundred-meters in Jordan (Swarthout) and David (McCary) got knocked to the ground and were both in last place and had to make up a lot of ground. Colton was in the mix from beginning and Jake and Kelly and worked their way up. Joey Bywater really saved us today. He was 40th with a thousand meters to go and wound up 29th. Max also took another big step today."

"The goal for the guys really was to come win a cross country race today. We talked about what it would take and then went out and did it," he said. "This group has been excited all fall every day. They saw a lot of the synergy and momentum of our women's team, had that to think about over the summer and now they're showing a similar great energy right now. There's much more potential though and plenty to fix."

The complete results of the Notre Dame Invitational can be accessed here.