The No. 18 women's cross country team traveled to Notre Dame, Ind., with every intention of sending the Fighting Irish a message.

While a message clearly was sent Friday, it wasn't the one Marquette had hoped for. The teams tied for first place at the National Catholic Invitational on Notre Dame's campus, dominating the competition in the process. Nine of the top ten finishers ran for Marquette or Notre Dame.

"For our first (full action) meet, and being on their course, I was OK with that," head coach Dave Uhrich said. "It would've been nice to beat them, but to get a tie out of it wasn't too bad."

Uhrich's mild satisfaction contrasted with the post-race attitude of Notre Dame head coach Tim Connelly.

"I was really happy with the way our kids ran," he said. "We're a real young team, and we knew Marquette was returning some great runners from last year. I thought we did a real nice job at getting in there and competing against a great team."

Senior Michaela Courtney, the reigning team MVP who did not begin training until two weeks ago because she was recovering from mononucleosis, finished ninth.

"I was happy to race again but I wasn't happy with the way I performed," she said. "At this point I know I'm not in awesome shape, but I'm going to go out there and do the best I can for the team."

While Courtney is still regaining strength, senior Brent Des Roches proved he has recovered from his injuries. He led the men to a second-place finish behind No. 12 Notre Dame.

"I'm feeling a little more fit," Des Roches said. "My last two miles were my fastest of the race, so that was definitely a boost of confidence."

Marquette's top four men's runners put the team in a position to win. But its fifth runner lagged behind, and Marquette finished with a lower score, 48-58. Despite the outcome, Uhrich was pleased with the effort.

"This definitely will give them some confidence," he said. "Our top three were outstanding, and we know that as a team we can do even better."

The NCAA will not evaluate the National Catholic when granting at-large berths to the National Championship. The committee will begin watching when Marquette travels to Minneapolis Saturday for the Roy Griak Invitational.