Jake Walker Class: Sophomore Hometown: Ellwood City, PA High School: Lincoln Height: 5-7 Event: Distance Birthdate: 10/22/1987

AS A FRESHMAN: Had a very good debut season for the Notre Dame cross country and track squads ... ran in six meets for the Irish in the fall ... placed 13th at the National Catholic Championship in a time of 25:39 ... ran nearly 20 seconds faster on the same course two weeks later, placing 90th at the Notre Dame Invitational ... finished in the top-100 and broke 25 minutes for 8,000 meters at the NCAA Pre-National meet (24:51) ... was the team's fifth runner at the BIG EAST Championship where he ran 24:34 ... made the step up to 10,000 meters at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, helping the team finish second and qualify automatically for the NCAA Championship with his 55th-place, 32:34 effort ... concluded the season as the team's fourth runner at the NCAA Championship, finishing 159th overall and covering the 10,000-meter course in 33:10 ... saved his best performances of the indoor track season for the BIG EAST meet , finishing 12th in the 3,000 meters (8:21.70) and 9th in the 5,000 meters (14:40.19), narrowly missing out on earning team points in the latter event ... best 5,000-meter run of the outdoor campaign was his 14:51.95 at the Central Collegiate Championships ... ran extremely well at the outdoor BIG EAST meet, placing 12th in the 5,000 meters but scoring points with his eighth-place effort in the 10,000 meters ... ran 30:23.57, the second-fastest time for any Notre Dame athlete on the season ... his development will be central to the Irish distance team's plans in the upcoming season.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL: Four-year letterwinner in both cross country and track at Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, Pa. ... earned five all-state citations and five-time regional champion (one cross country, two indoor track, two outdoor track) during his career ... won state titles in indoor 3,000 meters (2005) and outdoor 3,200 meters (2006), running latter event in personal-best 9:04.31 and missing state record by only 22-hundredths of a second ... ran independently during indoor track season as school did not field a squad ... had nation's fourth-quickest indoor 3,000-meter time as senior (8:30.35 on banked track) ... clocked 2006 season-best and personal-best outdoor 3,000-meter time of 8:21.94 (10th-fastest in nation) on way to third-place outing at Penn Relays (time also ranks ninth all-time at prestigious meet) ... top indoor mile time of 2006 season was 4:18.86 (second-best in state) ... finished fourth at '05 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) 2A cross country championships (16:14 for 5K) ... two-time participant in FootLocker Northeast Cross Country Regional, placing 13th in 2005 (15.53.6) ... best 5K cross country time in high school was 15:19 ... National Honor Society member ... born Oct. 22, 1987 in Ellwood City, Pa. ... son of Helen and Ron Walker ... older of two children ... cousin, Selena Santillo, is a 2004 Notre Dame graduate ... plans to major in business at Notre Dame ... enrolled in the First Year of Studies program.