BUTLER TWP — The words are simple. Their meaning speaks volumes.

“I want to be the best runner I can be for the best team I can be on,” Butler senior CJ Singleton said.

The Golden Tornado cross country-distance running standout took a major step toward that goal Tuesday night, opting to continue his academic and running career at Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish placed second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall, their best finish since winning the title in 1957.

In 10 years at the helm, Notre Dame cross country coach Sean Carlson has produced two individual NCAA champions, eight school-record breakers and 20 All-Americans.

“I didn't want to spend the next four years just running, with nobody pushing me,” Singleton said. “I always want to be challenged.

“If I wind up being just a role player on that team, I'm fine with it, as long as I'm getting better.”

Notre Dame's cross country team is ranked No. 2 in the nation right now, with a United States Olympic gold medalist and six returning All-Americans on the roster this season.

Singleton also considered Wake Forest and Georgetown before choosing Notre Dame.

His father, Chris Singleton, helped him along in the recruiting process.

“The non-revenue sports don't have the recruiting budgets that sports like football and basketball have,” Mr. Singleton said. “You have to get your name in front of them.

“After his sophomore year, when I saw how CJ was running, I started sending information to schools he was interested in. Then I updated them with his times as he went along.

“When CJ posted some of the top national times the winter of his junior season and was an Indoor All-American, (college) coaches started getting back to us,” he added.

Getting his profile in circulation, coupled with Singleton's drive, set the recruiting wheels in motion.

“CJ's best quality is that he's self-driven 12 months a year,” Butler track and field coach Mike Seybert said. “He puts down goals and goes after them.”

Singleton has followed in the footsteps of Butler graduate Noah Beveridge, also a standout cross country and distance runner who is now a senior at Syracuse.

Like Notre Dame, Syracuse has one of the top cross country programs in the country.

“It's not like these guys are going to so-so programs,” Seybert said. “Noah was a good role model for CJ.”

Tornado cross country coach Rick Davanzati agreed.

“Noah definitely had an influence on him,” Davanzati said. “CJ came to a few of our practices when he was in sixth through eighth grade. He looked up to Noah.

“All of our younger kids did. The success Noah had ... C.J. wanted the same.”

Singleton placed sixth at the PIAA Cross Country Championships last fall. He placed fifth in the 3,200 meters at the state track meet last spring.

“If we went back to White Oak (for cross country) this year, CJ would break 15 minutes there,” Davanzati said. “Cross country courses are different, so it's hard to say what his times will be this season.

“This spring, I can see him breaking nine minutes in the 3,200, running under 4:10 in the 1,600.”

Singleton's goals extend beyond the state meet.

“I want to qualify for nationals in San Diego and make a mark there,” he said. “If I'm not an All-American in college, I want to help Notre Dame win the national championship.”

Singleton has run one of the top seven 5k times in the country. He can also run the 800 in a minute, 55 seconds.

He runs the 1,600 in 4:11 in the middle of the season “and coaches notice that kind of stuff,” Seybert said.

“CJ has the speed to run the shorter distances and the strength to run the longer ones. His versatility that way has been very attractive to college coaches,” he added.

Seybert said that college coaches rank high school runners nationally.

“There's a pecking order there and it was just a waiting game for CJ,” the coach said.

“Notre Dame is ranked high again this year. They have a lot of seniors that are going out. CJ is part of the new group coming in.”

Singleton plans to major in accounting.