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The observer | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

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Kelly discusses Florida State in press conference

By MADELYN STOUT

Sports Writer

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Oct. 6.

Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly spoke with the press in preparation for Saturday’s home game against Florida State. This press conference comes off of a two-week break for the Fighting Irish, and Kelly discussed lessons learned and the wide receiver position.

“Certainly for me and our team, and certainly, our entire staff, we’re excited about getting back into a game week situation,” Kelly said. “We’ve been off now, obviously for those that are following us, the last few weeks.”

The game against the Seminoles will mark the first for the Irish since the Wake Forest game was postponed due to a spike in COV ID-19 cases amongst team members. The outbreak amongst the team involved 39 players, with 25 testing positive and 14 in quarantine and isolation. However,

Hayden Adams

Sports Editor When it comes to this, my word is gospel (or so I like to think anyway).

Athletes are the closest thing in everyday life to superheroes. Their physical prowess awes the masses. With that in mind, leave it to a wannabe Scene Writer like me to write a column combining my two greatest passions: sports and superhero movies.

So let this be either the greatest or stupidest piece I have ever written in my Observer tenure: making Notre Dame football comparisons to Marvel superheroes. Please enjoy…

Captain America — Daelin Hayes/Ade Ogundeji

OK, I’m cheating a little bit here, but they’re both defensive ends so I think this is acceptable.

The way that Hayes stepped up this offseason to lead this a recent press release on Twitter provided updated information. Two positive cases were recorded last week, and a total of 11 players are currently in quarantine and isolation.

“In terms of who’s available, we feel like we’ll continue to test during the week, so the roster is a fluid situation,” Kelly said. “We’re in a very good place relative to our two-deep. We’re going to be just fine for Florida State.”

Kelly summed up the loss of some of the student-athletes to a “celebration” around the time that the Irish won 52-0 against South Florida on Sept. 19. The team also saw incidents surrounding a pregame meal and a sidelines vomiting episode within recent weeks. Despite these setbacks, Kelly remained positive about the upcoming game and reiterated past points on wearing a mask, something he said he reminds his players to do.

“We believe that we sit in a very good position right

see KELLY PAGE 13

Courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics

Irish junior running back C’Bo Flemister runs through a couple of defenders during a 52-0 victory over South Florida at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 19. Flemister had 127 yards and a touchdown in the game.

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If ND football players were Marvel superheroes

ND Women ’s Cross Country

Women’s team stays undefeated

now and we’re preparing our

By NATE MOLLER

Sports Writer

The Notre Dame women’s cross country team remained undefeated on the season by winning its second meet of the season at the Louisville Classic on Saturday.

The Irish placed first in the seven-team meet with 47 points, beating out SEC teams Ole Miss (54), Kentucky (76) and Tennessee (93).

Head coach Matt Sparks said he is very pleased with his team’s great performance across the board.

“The biggest takeaway I had from the weekend was that no one struggled,” Sparks said. “A lot of credit goes to the girls for that because they took their mind out of the race and raced to their current fitness. In any sport, your head can creep into the competition a little bit and allow you to struggle. They did a great job of ignoring exterior factors and negative self talk in their head and competing to what their current fitness is.”

While in the past the Irish have been led by frontrunners like Molly Seidel and Anna Rohrer, Sparks said this year the team does not have a clear frontrunner.

“This year we know that if we are going to have success it is going to be a bit of a mob mentality of we are all working together for this. It’s neat to see everybody bunched up so close together,” he said.

Leading the Irish pack Saturday was sophomore Jessica Schneider (17:01.9), who was followed closely by graduate student Erin Archibeck (17:08.3), senior AnnaSophia Keller (17:10.9), sophomore Olivia Markezich (17:20.9) and freshman Erin Strzelecki (17:23.6).

When asked about a standout performance, it was hard for Sparks to name one person specifically.

“That’s what is so neat about it,” he said. “No one stepped up and did exceptionally well, but everyone just ran to what their potential has been.