Oct. 27, 2000

Villanova senior Ann McGranahan (Pensacola, Fla.) ran 16:59 to win the women's individual title at the 2000 Big East Conference Cross Country Championships held at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. Megan Guiney of Boston College finished second with a time of 17:03. McGranahan is the eighth different Wildcat female to win a Big East individual cross country crown. All total, a Villanova female has finished first at the Big East meet on 10 different occasions.

In the team standings, the Villanova men finished third with 97 points behind Providence who won the meet with 39 points and Georgetown who tallied 46 points. The Villanova women registered a fourth place effort with 81 points. Boston College won the women's team standings with 38 points, followed by Providence with 71 points and Georgetown with 72 points.

After McGranahan, Villnaova's second runner was senior Geraldine McCarthy (Listowel, Ireland) who placed 11th with a time of 17:37. Running third and fourth for the Wildcats were freshman Renee Gunning (Perkasie, Pa.) who finished 19th in 17:50 and sophomore Liz Awtrey (Burke, Va.) who was 24th in 18:03. Rounding out the top five for the `Cats was freshman Rebecca Mitchell (Geneva, Ill) who crossed the line in 18:03 to place 26th. Also running for Villanova were freshman Carre Joyce (Charleston, S.C.) who was 34th in 18:19, senior Meghan Courtney (Waterloo, N.Y.) who registered a 53rd place effort in 18:59 and freshman Claudine Evangelista (Laurel Springs, N.J.) who was 66th with a clocking of 19:12.

The Villanova men were led by sophomore Tom Parlapiano (Honeybrook, Pa.) who ran to a fourth place finish with a time of 23:43. Keith Kelly of Providence took home individual honors with a clocking of 23:21. Sophomore Jon Fasulo (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) was Villanova's number two man, placing 15th in 24:12, while junior Ben Showers (West Chester, Pa.) earned a 20th place finish with a time of 24:21. Finishing three spots behind Showers was freshman teammate Ryan Hayden (Richmond, Canada) who was 23rd with a clocking of 24:35. The Wildcats fifth runner was freshman Morgan Scoville (Nashville, Tenn.) who ran 25:06 which was good enough for a 35th place finish.

Also running for Villanova were freshman Andrew Jackman (Somersworth, N.H.) who was 43rd in 25:21, sophomore Tim Styler (Cranford, N.J.) who finished 44th in 25:23, freshman Pat Dunn (East Setauhet, N.Y.) who crossed the line in 25:28 to place 51st and freshman Jason Jabaut (Peru, N.Y.) who was 59th in 25:40.

Both the Villanova men and women will return to action on Nov. 11, when they travel to Penn State to compete in the NCAA Regionals.