Providence’s Wheeler, Butler’s Makepeace Earn Weekly Cross Country Honors
NEW YORK – Senior Abbey Wheeler of Providence and Euan Makepeace of Butler have been named BIG EAST Female and Male Athletes of the Week, respectively, in cross country. Both runners turned in strong performances at nationally reputable meets. Most BIG EAST squads are off this weekend to prepare for the BIG EAST Championship, which will be held at the Wayne E. Dannehl Course in Kenosha, Wis.
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Euan Makepeace, Butler, Sr. – Makepeace paced the Bulldog men with a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. Against a field that included 10 ranked programs, the redshirt senior posted a time of 24:04.4 in the 8K race. The Bulldogs took 18th in the team standings.
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Abbey Wheeler, Providence, Sr. – At the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, Wheeler finished 26th individually in a 36-team field that included six top-10 clubs and No. 13 host Wisconsin. Her time on the 6K course was 20:28.1. Wheeler improved her finish at the meet by 11 places after crossing the finish line in 37th last year. The Friars were 26th in the team standings.
BIG EAST Notes
Men’s News –
Villanova also competed at the NCAA Pre-Nationals with Josh Phillips leading the way. The sophomore finished 28th, two spots behind Butler’s Euan Makepeace, with a time of 24:06.9. Phillips’ time was a personal best and was the first time he finished atop the Wildcat lineup. The Wildcats took eighth place in the team standings…The
Xavier men placed 19th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Senior John Hautz was 80th with a time of 26:38.7…Michael O’Leary of
Providence took fourth place at the New England Championships on Oct. 12. The graduate student ran 8K in 24:50 at Franklin Park in Boston to help lift the Friars to their first team title at the event since 2014…
Georgetown senior Jack Van Scoter finished 77th at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational with an 8K time of 24:28.2. The Hoya team finished 20th in the 33-team field…
Marquette senior Ryan Burd was the runner-up at the Bradley “Pink” Classic. He narrowly missed his personal-best record time in the 8K after recording a time of 24:17.6. It’s his fifth top-10 finish in five meets this season…
Creighton also competed at the Bradley “Pink” Classic with John Quigley again being the Bluejay leader, finishing 47th. The sophomore covered the 8K course in 25:19.8, the 14th fastest time in school history. The Bluejays placed 18th in the team standings.
Women’s News – Freshman Maggie Smith led
Villanova at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, finishing 35th of 243 runners, 11 spots behind Providence’s Wheeler. Smith, who posted a time of 20:36.6, stayed with the top 20 runners until the final kilometer of the race. The Wildcat team finished 22nd…
Georgetown also competed at the Wisconsin Invitational and was led by graduate student Madeline Perez, who crossed the finish ln 78th place with a time of 21:09.3. The Hoyas finished 19th in the team standings in the 36-team field…
Xavier junior Anna Kostarellis took 16th among 252 runners at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. She posted a personal-best time of 20:33.7. Xavier finished 32nd in the team standings…
Butler also competed at the NCAA Pre-Nationals and was led by junior Emily Royston, who placed 18th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals with a time of 20:34.7. Her performance helped the Bulldogs take eighth place in the team standings ahead of four ranked teams…Danielle Hotalling led
Creighton for the 10th time in 10 races with a 10th-place finish at the Bradley “Pink” Classic. Her time of 21:32.8 was more than two minutes better than her previous best time this fall…
Marquette also competed at the Bradley “Pink” Classic and had senior Caitlin McGauley place 13th. She ran a personal-best 21:27.0 in the 6K race and missed a top-10 finish by five seconds. McGauley has two top-10 finishes this fall.
BIG EAST Presence In the USTFCCCA Polls
In the USTFCCCA national polls of Oct. 22, the women’s poll shows Butler at No. 26 and Georgetown at No. 28. In the men’s poll, Villanova and Georgetown remain among the group of teams receiving votes.