LEESBURG, Va.—The men's race at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships presented by JEEP was shaping up to be a three-team race between Villanova, Georgetown and reigning champion Butler. Prior to the race, Wildcats head coach Marcus O'Sullivan told his student-athletes that it would likely take about 35 points to come away with the title. They must have taken him literally. Villanova scored exactly 35 points, led by a 1-2 finish from fifth year Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) and junior Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.), to win its ninth BIG EAST title all-time and its second in the last three years.
 
Murphy defended his individual conference crown from last year in dominant fashion as the Wildcats went 1-2 at the front of the race for the second straight year and third time ever. All five of the Villanova scoring runners finished in the top 18 overall and earned All-BIG EAST honors at the awards ceremony after the race. Murphy joins former Wildcats stars Bobby Curtis and Patrick Tiernan in winning multiple career BIG EAST cross country titles. This is the 15^th time that Villanova has had an individual champion at the conference meet.
 
As for the team race, it took a big finish by the Wildcats in the final mile of the 8,000-meter course. Villanova finished with 35 points to outkick Butler (41) and Georgetown (70) at the top of the standings in a race that was as close as expected. The fifth and sixth runners from the runner-up Bulldogs came in ahead of the Wildcats final scoring runner, but a surge over the final 2,000 meters by redshirt freshman Bailey Habler (Sydney, Australia) and senior Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) made the difference. Habler passed two runners in the final stretch of the race and Comber moved up five spots nearing the finish.
 
Murphy cruised to a winning time of 23:12.83, followed by Langon in second place with a time of 23:28.27. The rest of the field of 86 runners was more than 30 seconds behind Murphy's pace. Habler finished in fourth place (23:58.35) and Comber was the fourth Villanova runner in the top 10 with a 10^th place finish (24:14.48). Redshirt freshman CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) came in 18^th in 24:36.22 to round out the scoring runners and all-conference performers. It is the seventh straight year that the Wildcats have had at least five All-BIG EAST honorees.
 
Four more Villanova runners placed between 21-30 in the field, led by senior Sean Donoghue (Dublin, Ireland) who was 21^st overall in 24:56.58. Redshirt freshman Nick Sullivan (Middletown, N.J.) and first year collegian Jack Coomber (Brisbane, Australia) finished consecutively exactly two seconds apart in 26^th (25:13.87) and 27^th (25:15.87) places, respectively, while another freshman in Jack Fenlon (Laois, Ireland) was 30^th (25:24.00). Redshirt freshman Kai-Mitchell Reiss (Portland, Ore.) was 54^th (26:08.31).
 
The top three teams were all nationally ranked entering the championships, led by the Wildcats at No. 17 and followed by Georgetown (No. 21) and Butler (No. 27). Villanova finished ahead of the Hoyas for the third time this season (Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Princeton Fall Classic) while competing against the Bulldogs for the first time.
 
Next up on the postseason schedule is the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional at Penn State on Friday, November 15.