Oct. 25, 2005
Villanova, Pa. - The 2005 BIG EAST Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships will be held on Friday, October 28 at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. The women's 6K race will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be followed by the men's 8K race at 1:10 p.m.
The 2005 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships will feature some of the nation's best teams and individual performers. In the latest national polls, five women's teams were ranked or received votes: Notre Dame No. 4, Providence No. 16, Marquette No. 29 and Georgetown and Villanova received votes. On the men's side, Notre Dame and Georgetown are ranked No. 5 and 7, respectively, and Providence received votes toward a top 30 ranking. Individuals who finish in the top 15 will earn All-BIG EAST Team honors.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Villanova is paced by senior Marina Muncan, who will look to regain the form she had when she finished sixth in the Championship in 2004. The senior was held back by an injury that kept her out of action this season before the Pre-National race Oct. 15. In that race, she finished 27th overall, second among the Wildcats, with a time of 20:53.
Muncan placed sixth in the 2004 championships with a time of 20:27, helping lead the `Cats to a third place finish. The Wildcat women return two runners who placed in the top 30. Elizabeth Gesel finished 23rd, and Bridget Akard who placed 26th. `Nova adds freshman Ellen Dougherty to the mix this season. Dougherty finished 13th out of 100 runners in the three-mile Haverford Invitational. She also finished in the top third at the Paul Short Invitational and in the top half of the field at Pre-Nationals.
Also keep an eye on Frances Koons. She has been a stand out performer for the `Cats this season, leading them in all three races run this year. Koons placed second at the Haverford Invitational, fourth among 309 runners at the Paul Short and 26th at Pre-Nationals. Bridget Akard, Zita Mezei and Akilah Vargas have been turning in solid performances for Villanova as well.
Defending champion Providence will have to do without the services of defending BIG EAST and NCAA Champion, Kim Smith, who graduated last spring. PC took three of the top four places at the conference race last year, and the lone returner from that group is Fiona Crombie, who finished fourth. The new cast of Friars, though, are poised to post back-to-back championships.
Notre Dame, which claimed the conference title in back-to-back years before Providence dethroned the Irish in 2004, returns three All-BIG EAST Team members from last season: Stephanie Madia, Molly Huddle and Sunni Olding. The Irish finished second in the NCAA Pre-National meet Oct. 15, a precursor to the NCAA Championship, which is held Nov. 21.
Marquette will look to make an immediate impact at the BIG EAST Championship in its first season as a conference member. The Golden Eagles showed a balanced set of runners at this year's Pre-National meet. The two through five finishers for MU finished within 30 seconds of each other. Marquette's top runner at that meet was Michaela Courtney, but she and Cassie Peller have traded time as the team's top runner in 2005.
Sophomores Liz Maloy and Maggie Infeld are expected to push the Georgetown women's team in 2005. Infeld garnered All-BIG EAST Team accolades a year ago with her 13th-place finish. The Hoyas finished fourth in last year's conference championship.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Villanova finished fourth in 2004 behind Robert Curtis's near-record setting run for his first BIG EAST Cross Country championship. All five Wildcat runners placed in the top 25 for `Nova last season. Behind Curtis' first place time of 23:26, Marc Pelerin placed 11th, Andrew Keino finished 13th, Michael Kerrigan placed 18th, and Sam Pawluk crossed the finished line with a 22nd place finish. The Wildcats return Pelerin, Keino, Kerrigan and Pawluk this year as well as gain Richard Corcoran and Steve Cornell who have turned in solid efforts for Villanova.
Notre Dame, which finished second at the NCAA Pre-National race Oct. 15, will look to defend its title after narrowly holding off Georgetown at last year's conference race. The Irish finished in first as a team by a one-point margin. ND has all four of its all-conference runners back and is poised to improve upon last year's times. Kurt Benninger and Tim Moore should be the pace-setters for the Irish.
Georgetown, behind Chris Esselborn and Fleet Hower, will look to break into the top spot in the conference after its second-place finish in 2004. Esselborn and Hower are the top returners for the Hoyas; Esselborn finished 12th, Hower 15th last season at the league championship.
Senior Martin Fagan is expected to lead the Providence effort in 2005 after finishing 16 seconds off the pace and placing fourth at least year's conference race. Fagan has finished first in three events this season, including at PC's most recent competition, the Penn State Invitational.
