NEW YORK – The Villanova and Providence women’s Cross Country teams finished 12th and 16th respectively, at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships held at the EP “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Georgetown’s Jonathan Green was the BIG EAST’s best individual finisher, placing 10th in the men’s race.
Villanova was led by junior Bella Burda with a 65th place finish in a time of 20:26.48 in the 6K race. The five scoring runners for the Wildcats were separated by only 30 seconds. Villanova posted its best team finish since 2011.
Graduate student Catarina Rocha led Providence and finished 61st with a time of 20:25.5. Senior Millie Paladino was close behind at 68th with a time of 20:29.1.
Creighton’s Emily Martin competed as an individual and finished 86th with a time of 20:36.90. Martin was the first Bluejay women’s runner to qualify for the championship. Georgetown’s Martha MacDonald finished 168th with a time of 21:14.2. Xavier’s Madeline Britton competed as an individual and finished 208th among 255 runners with a time of 21:42.60. She was only the second Xavier runner in school history to compete in the NCAA Championship.
Georgetown’s Green ended his collegiate career with All-America honors. He covered the 10K race in 29:38.6. It was his second top-10 finish in the NCAAs. He took fifth place in 2015. Georgetown has placed a runner in the top 10 in each of the last three years.