GRAD TRANSFER: Two-Time All-American Emily Covert to Join Notre Dame, First Reported via Josh Grenade

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Earlier today, Josh Grenade first reported on Instagram that Emily Covert was joining the Notre Dame women as a graduate transfer. The Stride Report has since independently confirmed the signing as well.

Covert is expected to have one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition.

Covert is a long-term veteran of the NCAA who left the University of Colorado this past winter, entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. She was then signed to Tennessee where she competed during the 2024 indoor and outdoor track seasons.

TSR first reported Covert's transfer portal entry back in June.

Admittedly, the former Buffalo and Volunteer hasn't been at her peak form since the 2021-2022 academic school year where she earned two All-American honors (one in cross country and one in the 10k). Even so, Covert has proven that she can continue to provide great scoring value, especially for a team like Notre Dame that is looking for another low-stick after the departures of Olivia and Andrea Markezich.

During the fall of 2023, Covert secured a strong 5th place finish at the Virginia Invite before going on to place 42nd at the Nuttycombe Invite, 12th at the PAC-12 XC Championships and 50th at the NCAA XC Championships. The year before that, Covert's main highlights were a 29th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite and a bronze medal effort at the PAC-12 XC Championships.

She has run personal best times of 9:04 (3k), 15:35 (5k) and 32:30 (10k).

Regardless of which version of Covert that the Notre Dame women get this fall, this is still a significant recruiting win for Coach Matt Sparks. Although the Fighting Irish women were a podium team at last year's NCAA XC Championships, losing a pair of All-Americans in the Markezich sisters was going to be a challenging aspect to overcome.

Yes, it's true that Erin Strzelecki is a returning All-American and that Siona Chisholm has begun to look more like herself as of late. It also hasn't hurt that Sophie Novak had a great 2024 spring campaign in the steeplechase.

Even so, there was still a clear need for a second/third lead scorer to be paired alongside those women. That's why, at the very least, getting the 2023 version of Emily Covert should still lead to great scoring value on the grass. She also gives Notre Dame one less hole in their lineup to plug.

And, of course, if Covert is able to rediscover her peak form, then the ladies from South Bend, Indiana may not see much of a drop-off from last year's podium squad.