LEESBURG, Va.—Led by senior Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) who tallied her third career top-five individual finish, Villanova placed three runners in the top 20 at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships presented by JEEP on Friday morning. The senior trio of Sigfstead, Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) and Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) earned All-BIG EAST honors for their finishes and the first seven Wildcats across the finish line were all among the top 25 overall in a field of 100 runners.
 
There were just 35 points separating the top four teams in the standings of a close race. Villanova finished fourth with 77 points and matched team champion Georgetown as the only squads in the 10-team field to have seven runners among the top 25 finishers. This is the third time in the last four seasons and the seventh time in the last nine years that the Wildcats have had at least three All-BIG EAST performers.
 
Sigfstead covered the 6,000 meter course in 19:56.25 and recorded her third race in as many starts this season with a time below 20 minutes. She was also fourth at the conference championships last season to go along with a fifth place finish her freshman year in 2021. McGill came in 12^th with a time of 20:41.51 and Carroll came in 19^th in 20:58.90. This year marked the first time the BIG EAST Championships were held at hilly Morven Park, and the field of runners strung out nearly from the outset with a lead pack of eight runners forming before the first 1000 meters had elapsed.
 
Four consecutive Villanova runners finished between 22^nd and 25^th in the race. Senior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) led that quartet in 22^nd place with a time of 21:17.00, followed less than half a second later by Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) in 23^rd place (21:17.46). Shay continued an excellent first season of collegiate competition. She was the top freshman finisher in the race and ranked third out of 48 competitors who are in their first or second year of collegiate eligibility. She has been one of the Wildcats scorers in all four races she has run on the year.
 
Fifth year Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) and junior Amelia Arrieta (Kansas City, Mo.) came in 24^th (21:26.10) and 25^th (21:35.00), respectively, to round out the Villanova top seven.
 
The rest of the Wildcats lineup featured sophomore Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) who moved up two spots in the last 2K to come in 28^th (21:43.12), while sixth year collegian Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) and freshman Bella Walsh (Middletown, Del.) were 53^rd (22:40.07) and 63^rd (23:02.97), respectively.
 
Friday's race begins the postseason schedule for Villanova, which will next compete in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional at Penn State on November 15.