Not all cross-country meets are special, but when the Salukis travel to Notre Dame this weekend, they will be reunited with their former coach.

Former SIU head coach Matt Sparks spent 12 years coaching SIU before becoming the associate head coach at the University of Notre Dame on Aug. 15.

Sparks told the team that he was not looking forward to the matchup upon his departure.

“I told the team that it was their goal to come to South Bend on Oct. 3 and kick our butts,” he said. “They should circle that day on the calendar and look forward to it. Since the girls will be in the same event as Notre Dame, I told them they should look forward to coming up here and trying to beat the Irish.”

Sparks led the SIU cross-country team to six Missouri Valley Conference championships, five for the men in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013.The women’s team also won in 2013.

Sparks led eight teams to NCAA Championship top-25 finishes and coached 10 NCAA event finals qualifiers.

Although Sparks led teams to athletic success, he also pushed them to succeed in the classroom. He coached 11 cross-country teams that earned national academic honors including his 2003 women’s and 2010 men’s teams they each had the second-highest grade-point averages in the nation.

“In the recruitment process, I look for academics,” Sparks said. “If a kid had straight ‘A’ grades through high school they understand what it means to be committed to something. From a coaching perspective, you can take that kid and once someone shows them how to be committed to the program, they’ll take that and treat it like their academics.”

Sparks coached SIU runners through their summer workouts before leaving for Notre Dame.

“After the summer, we came into what [David] Beauchem has for us, and it’s kind of like we have two coaches for one season,” Juan Carrera, a senior runner on the cross-country team, said.

Sparks speaks weekly with Beauchem, even after leaving for Notre Dame.

“I knew him from his time at Bradley and he’s always been helpful for me,” Sparks said. “Now, we don’t talk a lot about the teams, but we talk about courses. I’ve known [Beauchem] and the rest of the staff for over 15 years. It’s hard to just walk away from friendships like that.”

Sparks still follows the Salukis, event though he left SIU. Sparks told his runners to talk with Beauchem about running, but he would still talk with them about life advice, recommendation letters and job opportunities.

Sparks explained to the team that he had to take his own advice upon leaving.

“I always told them that they need to challenge themselves and take chances in life,” he said. “When you get in a race, you have to do something you have never done before. The move was something I had to do. In the past I had been afraid to move and take a chance. They respected that.”

Saluki cross-country runners keep a positive outlook on the season while transitioning between coaches.

“I think we’re going to do really well,” Mobola Rotibi, a senior cross-country runner, said. “We have a lot of talent built up and with steady planning and progression we will do really well.”

At the Notre Dame Invitational, the women’s team will run in the same event as the Notre Dame team, but the men’s teams will compete in a different event. The team invite begins at 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 3 in South Bend, In.

Brent Meske can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brentmeskeDE.