Villanova Takes Male and Female Weekly X-C Honors
NEW YORK – Villanova’s Casey Comber and Carolina Alcorta have been named the BIG EAST Male and Female Athletes of the Week in Cross Country. They both won their respective races this past weekend against large fields.
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Casey Comber, Villanova, Jr. – Comber earned individual champion honors for the second straight year at the Main Line Invitational in a field of 116 runners. The junior finished 6.5 seconds ahead of the runner-up from Penn and helped the winning Wildcats finish four points ahead of the Quakers in the team standings.
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Caroline Alcorta, Villanova, Gr. – Alcorta was the individual champion at the Main Line Invitational in her Villanova debut. Her winning time of 16:03.0 over three miles is the fastest ever for a Villanova runner on the course at Haverford College where the Wildcats have competed in each of the last 16 seasons. Alcorta had a winning margin of 7.5 seconds against a field of 83 runners as Villanova swept the top seven spots in the race.
BIG EAST Notes
Men’s News – Grayson Jenkins of
Xavier continued his strong start to the season by placing 17th among 228 runners at the National Catholic Invitational at Notre Dame. The senior posted a time of 25:39.85 in the five-mile race and helped the Musketeers place fourth among 11 teams. They were the top BIG EAST team in the meet…Jon Klaiber of
Marquette put together a pair of quality performances over the last two weeks, both 8K races. At the Vic Godfrey Open at the Dannehl National Course, the senior finished seventh with a time of 25:53. In hot conditions at the Badger Classic, he took third place with a time of 25:34.
Women’s News –
Marquette’s Mary Hanson posted two quality performances over the past two weekends. In the Vic Godfrey Open, she finished third with a time of 18:17.5 over 5K in a 12-team field. In very hot conditions in the Badger Classic, Hanson finished 14th with a time of 23:15 over 6K in a three-team competition that included Wisconsin and Northwestern…Paige Hofstad of
Georgetown finished third at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational hosted by Penn State. The junior covered the 6K race in 21:01. The Hoyas took third place in a 10-team field…Sophomore Anna Kostarellis of
Xavier ran the fifth fastest 5K time in school history at the Commodore Classic. She posted a time of 17:41.90 and was seventh in a field of 186 runners. Xavier competed against nine teams that were regionally ranked and finished fifth…
Butler’s Josephine Thestrup led the Butler women to a first-place finish at Indiana State’s John McNichols Invitational, beating 11 other squads. Threstrup trekked the 5K course in 17:47, winning by six seconds. Camille Hines finished fourth for the Bulldogs with a time of 18:14…Freshman Danielle Hotaling continued to lead
Creighton in the early season. At the National Catholic Invitational at Notre Dame, she placed 25
th of 203 competitors with a time of 18:36.99 in the 5K race to lead all BIG EAST runners. DePaul and Xavier also competed. The Bluejays finished eighth among 11 teams.
BIG EAST Presence In the USTFCCCA Polls
In the USTFCCCA national polls of Sept. 18, the women’s poll shows the three ranked league teams holding their positions. Villanova is No. 8, Providence is No. 11 and Georgetown is No. 25. In the men’s poll, Villanova is 27th and Georgetown is receiving votes.