Cross Country: Big East Preview
October 30, 2002 04:08 PM | General
October 30, 2002
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Notre Dame’s men’s squad and Georgetown’s women’s team will look to defend their titles at the 2002 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1 at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. The men will run an 8,000-meter race which will begin at 11:30 a.m. The women, who race at 12:20 p.m., will be running a 6,000-meter race for the second consecutive year.
Men’s Preview:
Notre Dame has been ranked this season as high as 22. The Irish have been led by Todd Mobley who won two individual titles this season, including the adidas Invitational crown. No. 13 Georgetown had a strong finish at the Great American Cross Country Festival. The Hoyas finished second at the meet with Mike Smith picking up third-place honors. Providence has won three meets this year, including the New England Championships. Adam Sutton led the No. 17 Friars with a first-place finish at the championship. No. 16 Villanova is again led this season by Adrian Blinco. The Wildcats have been nationally-ranked every week this season with its highest ranking at sixth.
Shawn Wallace of Boston College has led the Eagles with two first-place finishes this season. He placed seventh at the New England Championships where the team placed sixth. Connecticut has been led by Pat Blake who has been the first Husky across the finish line in all five meets this season. UConn’s best finish was second-place honors at the Quinnipiac Invitational.
Miami’s Matt Mulvaney has placed in the top 10 in three meets, including two wins at the UCF Invitational and the FIU Florida Memorial Meet. As a team, Miami also won the same meets.
Pittsburgh has competed in three meets this season, with Dan Hull crossing the finish line first in two races. The Panthers placed third at the Duquesne Invitational. At the Metropolitan Championship this season, Rutgers finished in seventh place. The Knights also competed in the Lafayette Invite where they placed ninth. St. John’s has been led this season by Marc Crosswell.
Crosswell has had three top 20 finishes this season. Seton Hall has placed in the top 10 in four meets this season with a season-best first-place finish at the Wagner Invitational. Scott Bessette has been the first Pirate to cross the finish line in SHU’s last three meets.
John Bitok has led the Orangemen of Syracuse this season setting two course records, one at Gardner-Webb (24:52.46) and the other at the Orange Classic (18:41). Virginia Tech has finished no lower than fifth this season in four meets, including a first-place finish at the Hokie Invitational. West Virginia won the Penn State National Collegiate Invitational this season. Zach Sabatino has set the pace for the Mountaineers setting a course record at the Hillbilly Classic.
Women’s Preview:
The No. 5 Hoyas of Georgetown returned its entire squad from last year. The team finished third at the NCAA Pre-National meet this season, led by Nicole Lee who crossed the finish line in 22nd place. No. 8 Notre Dame finished first at the adidas Invitational led by Lauren King. At the NCAA Pre-National meet, ND placed fourth again paced by King who finished sixth. Led by Mary Cullen, No. 14 Providence scored 51 points for a first-place finish at the Penn State National Collegiate Invitational.
The Friars also won two other meets this season, including the New Hampshire Invitational where seven PC runners placed in the top 10. No. 22 Villanova placed second at the Penn State National Collegiate Invitational. Ioana Parusheve has led VU this season with two top-five finishes. Boston College, No. 30 in the nation, has won all three meets it has competed in this season, with a different BC runner placing first in each race. The Eagles have been ranked as high as fifth this season in the national polls.
Connecticut finished eighth at the New England Championships led by Kristen Meyer. Marilyn Ruiz has been Miami’s top finisher this season. UM had a first-place finish at the FIU Florida Memorial Meet and two top-four finishes this season.
Pittsburgh has been led in all three meets this season by sophomore Maureen McCandless. She has been the top Panther to cross the finish line in each meet, grabbing first place at the Duquesne Invitational. Rutgers has been led this season by Julie Culley who finished first at the NCAA Pre-National meet with a time of 20:55.7. The Scarlet Knights have finished no lower than seventh in this season’s meets. Freshman Jasmine Barreto is having a strong rookie season for St. John’s. In her first meet, the Fordham Invite, she finished eighth.
Seton Hall senior Kenia Sinclair has helped her team to four top 10 finishes this season, including a second-place finish at the Monmouth Invitational. Syracuse’s Aleccia Boland has been the team’s top runner in all three meets this season. She finished first in two consecutive meets, the Orange Classic and Gardner-Webb meet. The Hokies of Virginia Tech have won every meet this season. Marlies Overbeeke has been the top VT runner in all four of the team’s meets. West Virginia has been led by Megan Metcalfe who returned from a torn ACL. She set a course record at the Hillbilly Classic and has finished in the top five in four meets.
