Big East Conference

PC's Rocha, Xavier's Kostarellis Take First Weekly X-C Honors

9/4/2019 12:08:50 PM

NEW YORK – Providence junior Marcelo Rocha and Xavier junior Anna Kostarellis are the first BIG EAST Male and Female Athletes of the Week in Cross Country, respectively, for the 2019 season.  Both runners produced first-place individual finishes and led their squads to team titles.
 
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Marcelo Rocha, Providence, Jr. – Rocha took first place at the UNH Tri-Meet with a time of 15:03.12 in the 5K race.  He posted the victory after finishing second in the race last year.  The junior won by 3.6 seconds over the runner-up and improved his time on the College Woods Course by 5.11 seconds over last year.  The Friars defeated host New Hampshire and Holy Cross to win the meet.
 
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Anna Kostarellis, Xavier, Jr. – Kostarellis won the individual title at the Queen City Invitational with a time of 17:07.80 in the 5K race, nearly 40 seconds faster than the runner-up.  The time marked a school record for 5K.  Kostarellis, who won for the first time in her career, led the Musketeers to the team crown and the third Queen City title in program history.  She finished third in the meet last year.    
 
BIG EAST Notes
Men’s News – Creighton’s John Quigley claimed third place in his Bluejay debut with a third-place finish in a dual meet against Drake.  His time was 18:58.95 in the 6K race…Seton Hall took second place at the Salisbury University Fall Classic behind senior Jesse Southard, who ran the 8K race in 26:20.65.  He placed third in a field of 60 competitors…John Hautz of Xavier placed sixth in the 5K race at the Queen City Invitational, posting a PR time of 15:20.00.  He helped the men’s team to a fifth-place finish in a nine-team field...Butler's Clark Otte led the Bulldogs to the team title in the Butler Twilight meet at the Northview Church course.  In his first time on the course, he navigated 6K in a time of 18:14.9, which set a course record.   
 
Women’s News – Providence won the UNH Tri-Meet behind the excellence of Abbey Wheeler, who won the meet for a second straight year.  She covered the 5K course in 17:31.02.  PC’s Maria Coffin finished second, 21.37 seconds behind Wheeler.  The Friars competed against New Hampshire and Holy Cross…Danielle Hotaling of Creighton took the individual title in a dual meet against Drake, completing the 4,000-meter course in 14:03.96.  It’s the seventh time in as many meets that she has been the Bluejays’ top performer.  She is the first Creighton runner to win since Emily Martin won the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29, 2017.  Creighton won the dual meet, scoring 23 points to 32 for Drake.  It was Creighton’s first team win since 2015…Kassandra Yocco of Seton Hall took second place in a field of 76 runners at the Salisbury University Fall Classic.  She ran the 6K race in 22:33.22 and helped the Pirates to a second-place finish in a five-team field...Emily Royston of Butler helped her team finish first in the Butler Twilight.  Her time of 17:20.6 in the 5K race was just a few seconds off the course record.
 
BIG EAST Presence In the USTFCCCA Polls
In the preseason USTFCCCA men’s and women’s polls, Villanova is the only BIG EAST team that’s ranked.  The Wildcats are 28th in the men’s poll and tied for 29th in the women’s poll.