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Butler Men, Georgetown Women Ready To Defend Cross Country Titles

NEW YORK – The Butler men’s team and the Georgetown women’s squad are ready to defend their crowns at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships Presented by JEEP to be held at the Northview Church Course in Carmel, Ind., on Friday, October 29.
 
The men’s race begins at 11 a.m. ET and the women’s race starts at 11:50 a.m.  The Northview Church Course will be the championship venue for the third time.
 
The Butler men and the Georgetown women captured their championship crowns in the spring when COVID forced last fall’s event to March 5 of this year.  The races were held at WakeMed Soccer Park Field in Cary, N.C.
 
The broadcast of the BIG EAST Cross Country Championship Presented by JEEP is being produced by the BIG EAST Digital Network Presented by SoFi available on FloSports.  Matt Schumacker and Gab Kreuz will call the race.
 
FloSports link: https://www.flotrack.org/events/7181789-2021-big-east-xc-championships
Live stats link: https://results.raceroster.com/results/psn2mqdk5u367tfw
 
In the spring, Butler won its first men’s league title through its quality depth.  The Bulldogs placed four runners in the top 10 and compiled 35 points.  Georgetown was second with 52 points with Villanova was close behind in third with 54 points.
 
On the women’s side, Georgetown returned to the women’s victory stand for the first time since 2014.  The Hoyas edged Connecticut for the crown, registering 52 points to 54 for the Huskies.  Providence was third with 61 points.
 
Men’s Preview
 
Butler returns a majority of its lineup from a group that finished 13th at the spring 2021 NCAA Championships, one of the best finishes in program history.  Barry Keane, who was the BIG EAST runner-up in the spring, and Simon Bedard, who placed third, are both back.  Pierre-Louis Detourbe, Jack McMahon and Clark Otte, each of whom competed at the NCAA Championships, also return.  Detourbe finished ninth in the BIG EAST.
 
Georgetown, ranked 27th nationally, wants to return to the top of the conference.  The Hoyas won four straight titles from 2015 to 2018 and have placed second in each of the last three years.  The Hoyas found their rhythm this fall in the last time out.  Graduate student Matthew Young emerged as the team’s low stick with any combination of runners from the deep Hoya roster ready to push the squad back to the top spot.
 
Villanova has the defending individual champion, Haftu Strintzos, who posted a time of 23:05.2 in the spring.  This fall, he has won two of his three races, the Princeton Invitational and the Main Line Invitational.  He will attempt to become the first VU repeat champion since Patrick Tiernan won four straight from 2013-16.  A Villanova runner has won six of the last eight men’s Championship races.
 
Providence will look to Marcelo Rocha as its leader.  He finished eighth in the BIG EAST Championship last spring. The Friars will race for their fourth win of the fall. The men won the UNH Tri Meet, New England Championships and CCSU Mini Meet. Rocha is coming off a 10th place finish at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational. Rocha earned BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week after his collegiate victory at the Friar Cross Country Invitational and for his success at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown with a seventh place finish.
 
Marquette freshman Dan Weizeorick has been one of the top runners in his first full season.  He has finished first for the MU men in three of the four races he’s competed in. He set a personal best 8K time at Lousiville with a time of 25:03.9.
 
DePaul last competed in the Bradley Pink Classic.  Senior Dominic Bruce was the top finisher, placing 26th.
 
Creighton has been led by John Quigley this fall.  He led the Bluejays at the Hawkeye Invitational with a sixth-place finish, took 24th at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., and was 45th at the Bradley “Pink” Classic.
 
Xavier has depended on graduate student Brady Harless.  He was 24th at the Bradley Pink Classic, Musketeers’ most recent outing.
 
Seton Hall has been led by senior Cole Kretlow, who led the Pirates in three meets and finished among the top three in six meets this fall.  Kretlow finished first at the Embry-Riddle Classic and won the Highlander Challenge with a season-best time of 25:17.82.
 
Women’s Preview
Georgetown, ranked 26th nationally, will look to Maggie Donahue to help defend its conference title.  Donahue has been the Hoyas’ top finisher in all three regular season meets.  On her shoulder in two of the meets was reigning BIG EAST individual champion Sami Corman, who posted a time of 20:27.0 in the spring.
 
Connecticut was led by senior Mia Nahom at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, running the 6K in 20:48.8, her fastest time since the 2019 NCAA Regional.  She finished 41st among 266 runners.  Nahom was ninth at the BIG EAST Championship in the spring.  Classmate Melissa Zammitti had a career best at Nuttycombe with a time of 21:08.5.  Sophomore Jenna Zydanowicz also ran a career best at the meet at 21:39.1.
 
Providence, ranked 14th nationally, is the highest ranked BIG EAST team.  Leading the pack will be Maria Coffin, who recently led the Friars at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, placing 22nd in 20:33, in a field of 19 ranked teams. Coffin placed 15th at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown and was in fifth at the Friar Cross Country Invitational. In previous BIG EAST Championships, Coffin tabbed a fourth-place finish in the spring (20:44.2) as well as a fourth in 2019 (21:56.5). Since 1982, the PC women have won eight BIG EAST titles, most recently in 2016.
 
Butler returns all 10 runners who crossed the finish line at the BIG EAST Championship in the spring and want to improve on their fourth-place team finish.  The Bulldogs are ranked 29th in the latest national polls.  Angelina Ellis finished 11th at the BIG EAST Championship in the spring.  Mia Beckham, who finished right behind Ellis, also returns.
 
Villanova features junior Lydia Olivere, who finished third in the league championship in the spring and was the individual BIG EAST champion in 2019.  This fall, freshman Sadie Sigfstead was the top Wildcat runner at the competitive Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, placing 36th.
 
Marquette Junior Kendall Pfrimmer has finished first in three of the four meets this fall with her other finish being second.  She set a personal best 6K time in her last meet, the Bradley Pink Classic, with a time of 21:43.4.
 
Creighton has had senior Danielle Hotalling at the head of the Bluejay flock in each race of her career.  This fall, her best finish was fifth at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. 
 
Xavier has enjoyed the addition of senior Rachel Butler who came over from the women’s soccer team to compete in cross country for the first time.  She has been the team leader throughout the fall and finished second among 286 runners at the Bradley Pink Classic.
 
DePaul has been led by junior Olivia Borowiak throughout the fall season.  She finished ninth at the Bradley Pink Classic.
 
St. John’s, in its past two meets, has been led by graduate student Mia Forster, including the recent Princeton Invitational where she finished 57th.
 
Seton Hall has been led by junior Nancy Habib in every meet this fall and she has finished in the top three overall in all six races.  She placed first three times, most recently in the Leopard Invitational.