KENOSHA, Wis.—Sophomore Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) won her first career individual conference title with a strong finish over the second half of the race and Villanova came in second in a close race at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships presented by Jeep on Saturday afternoon.  Olivere led three Wildcats who finished in the top-10 overall and earned first team All-BIG EAST honors. 
 
"This is very surreal," Olivere said of capturing the individual BIG EAST crown.  "I was not expecting this.  It was in the back of my mind that after being top-10 last year hopefully this year I could be top five, so coming in I was just thinking that I had to get as low of a score as I could to help the team.  It went really well today, better than I was expecting."
 
This is the 18^th time that Villanova has produced the individual winner in women's cross country.  Olivere, who finished seventh at the BIG EAST meet as a freshman last season, was the top returning finisher from 2018 who competed in Saturday's race.  She ran the 6,000 meter race at Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in 21:29.5 to pace a field of 91 runners. 
 
"I was happy with how calm I felt and that helped me during the second half of the race," Olivere said.  The last 2K is where the race is at and I think I'm sharpening my finishes going into the second half of the season.  Having that strength is pretty awesome.  Regionals are next so we'll keep training and then in two weeks wi'll be at it again." 
 
The top of the Wildcats lineup is a powerful one, with fifth-year senior Ann Campbell (Mission Hills, Kan.) placing third (21:55.5) and freshman Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) coming in eighth (22:12.5) in her BIG EAST debut.  Campbell earned All-BIG EAST honors for the second straight year and moved up five spots from where she finished last season.  Smith is part of a large influx of young talent on the Villanova roster and was one of four true freshmen who were among the Wildcats eight competitors in Saturday's race. 
 
Fellow first-year runners Brynne Sumner (Canton, Ga.) and Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) were the fourth and fifth scoring runners in the lineup.  Sumner came in 21^st overall in 22:45.8 and Merrill was 28^th in 23:12.4.  Freshman Anna Helwigh (Soborg, Denmark) was close behind in 31^st place (23:21.5), while seniors McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) and Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) were 40^th  (23:38.4) and 45^th (23:57.8), respectively.
 
It was a sunny but cold day in Wisconsin, where a few inches of snow fell on Thursday when Villanova arrived in town.  Much of that snow remained on the ground in a soft and slushy form two days later, creating a less than ideal track for the runners. 
 
"We're a tough team," Olivere said of the way the Wildcats managed the course.  "We've got grit and we like to perform on the day.  We knew what these conditions would be like so we prepared as best we could, came out here and went for it.  We can't control the conditions so we just remain calm with what's given to us."
 
The team race at the BIG EAST Championships was a remarkably close one, with the top three teams separated by only 13 total points.  Butler won its first team title with a winning score of 52 points, narrowly holding off Villanova (61) and Georgetown (65).  It was the first time since 2007 that a team other than Villanova, Georgetown or Providence emerged as the BIG EAST champion. 
 
Villanova has now earned a total of 139 All-BIG EAST honors in women's cross country with the performances of Olivere, Campbell and Smith on Saturday afternoon.  It was also the second individual victory of the season for Olivere, who was the champion of the season-opening Main Line Invitational in November.  She reflected after Saturday's win on her experience as a competitive runner.
 
"The people you meet and the camaraderie of the girls you meet in NCAA competition," Olivere said.  "My whole team is so much more than anything I could have ever imagined.  Running is such a group effort and that's the best part of it.  When you do well, and do well together, that feeling can't be beat."
 
Next up for Villanova is the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on November 15.  The meet takes place on the Goodman Campus Course at Lehigh, with the top two teams from the regional championships earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championships on November 23.