SOUTH BEND -- For the third time in a row, Josh Rohatinsky finished first overall and helped guide the Cougars to a fifth place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.

Men's coach Ed Eyestone simply described Rohatinsky in one simple, but powerful word, "Fearless."

The sophomore ran the 8K event in a time of 23:40, edging out Notre Dame's sophomore Kurt Binningen by three tenths of a second.

"Josh is the guy, who brings it when he wants too," said Eyestone. "With under a mile to go, Josh put a move on the leader and pushed himself till the race was over. The guy left people in his wake."

Rohatinsky, who was the MWC Freshman of the Year in 2001, has simply been a force to be reckoned with, since returning home from his mission in Uruguay in 2003.

"Josh is capable of some pretty amazing things," Eyestone said.

Coming in fifth place, with a time of 23:48 was senior Bryan Lindsay.

"Bryan passed ten people over the last mile and really finished strong," said Eyestone. "I was very pleased with how we ran overall as a team.

The Cougars finished with 126 points, but another Mountain West Conference opponent, the Air Force Academy, finished one spot ahead of the Cougars. The falcons knocked the four time MWC Champions off the podium last year when they beat the Cougars at the MWC Championships.

"It's good to find out about Air Force this early," said Eyestone. "Instead of at the MWC Championships. It's hard to cheer against the Cadets when you know they're the one's putting themselves in harms way in defending our country."

Last years All-American Nathan Robison competed in the race, despite recovering from an ankle sprain and a cold. Robison finished with a time of 24:43, which placed him 52nd overall.

"Two of the guys who should be in the top five finished low," said Eyestone. "When we get 100 percent healthy, were going to be in a great position to finish well."

Others who ran well are freshman Chandler Goodwin, senior Chad Durham and junior Nick McCombs. Goodwin finished 34th overall, with a time of 24:26. Durham placed 42nd overall, with a time of 24:35 and McCombs placed 44th overall, with a time of 24:35.

"I'm excited with how the race went today," said Eyestone. "This is good for us, because it keeps us hungry and determined to get better each week."

2004 Notre Dame Invitational
Final Results Men's 8K
Rank Team               Total
1.   Stanford           89    2, 10, 17, 23, 36
2.   Notre Dame         95    2, 13, 14, 20, 46 
3.   Butler             112   8, 16, 19, 32, 37, 
4.   Air Force Academy  113   9, 10, 21, 28, 43, 
5.   Brigham Young      126   1, 5, 34, 42, 44,

PROVO -- This weekend marks the first road trip for both the men and women's cross country teams as the No. 9 ranked men's team travels to South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame Invitational, while the No. 3 ranked women head to Cary, North Carolina for the Great America.

Three weeks have passed since the two squads last competed in a meet, when the Cougars ran away with a sweep at the BYU Autumn Classic.

For the second week in a row, Josh Rohatinsky won the men's four-mile race with an impressive time of 19:31.9. The sophomore, who was the MWC Freshman of the Year in 2001, has run strong early in the year and is one of the reasons why the men are ranked in the top ten nationally.

Senior, Rena Williams-Chesser won the women's 5K three weeks ago, with a time of 17:55.1. The women are currently ranked No. 3 in the nation in several polls, due to the fact that the women are filled with the potential to return to the top.

"Our guys are chomping at the bit," said men's coach Ed Eyestone. "They want to get out and do some racing."

"We can run strong as a team, if we can keep our time differential down," said Eyestone. "If we can do that, we'll be a pretty tough team."

Some of the nations top teams like Stanford, Michigan, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Air Force, Alabama and UCLA will be competing against the Cougars as they look to keep the momentum flowing throughout the weekend.

Women's coach Patrick Shane said it's been a real plus for them not having to compete for these past couple of weeks. The women have had some tough practices and look to compete well this weekend in North Carolina.

"This will be a great week of competition," said Shane. "We've been able to train hard and continue to improve as a group. I'm excited to see some our top runners compete for the first time this season."

Both squads will compete Friday, October 1 as the men race in the Notre Dame Invitational, while the women compete in the 5K event at the Great America.