NEW YORK – Georgetown’s Parker Stokes has been named BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week and Butler’s Mia Beckham has been tabbed BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week in the third week of honors for cross country. Stokes took fourth place at the Coaching Tree Invitational hosted by Indiana Univ. Beckham won the 6K Redbird Invitational. 
 
BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Parker Stokes, Georgetown, Sr.
Stokes led the Hoyas with a second-place finish at the Coaching Tree Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. The senior ran the 8K race in 23:46.8 and was one of five Hoyas who placed in the top 25.
 
BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Mia Beckham, Butler, R-Sr.
In her first competition of the fall, Beckham crossed the finish line first at the Redbird Invitational, winning by 16 seconds with a time of 21:16.5. She broke away from the lead pack at the 3K mark while cruising to victory. The Bulldogs had five runners among the top 12 spots in a nine-team field and finished first in the team standings.
 
BIG EAST Men’s Notes
DePaul’s Shane Knanishu finished third on the men’s side of the Bradley Invitational. In the 8K race, Knanishu had a time of 24:03.3. Along with six other team members, the Blue Demons replaced seven of the top 10 8K times in the school’s cross country records…Creighton junior Marcos Gonzalez was 26^th at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., with an 8K time of 25:05.65. The Bluejays finished sixth among the D-I teams at the meet…Marquette finished sixth in a 14-team field at the National Catholic Invite at Notre Dame. Sophomore Tyler Re recorded a time of 25:51.3 in the five-mile race to finish 12^th. Re has finished first or second on the team in all three events this fall.
 
BIG EAST Women’s Notes:
DePaul junior Olivia Borowiak won a three-mile race at the Bradley Invitational with a time of 16:24.9, just off the course record of 16:21.5. The Blue Demons also won the team title, placing five runners in the top 10…Georgetown veteran Sami Corman, who was the BIG EAST champion two years ago and placed sixth in last season’s Championship, finished second at the Coaching Tree Invitational with a time of 20:20.3 over the 6,000-meter race. Chloe Scrimgeour was third at 20:20.6…Creighton junior Morgan Koca finished 50^th at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational with a 5K time of 18:51.56. The Bluejays took 10^th among the D-I teams in the field…With a smaller lineup, Connecticut finished fourth in a field of nine teams at the Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park. Freshman Maddie Sweeney finished eighth, matching her top finish from the Marist Season Opener.  She posted a 5K personal best of 18:55.2. Grad student Cilia Chacko was 10^th at 19:16.4…Marquette finished fourth in the National Catholic Invite at Note Dame. For the third straight meet, junior Kate Jochims led the Golden Eagles. She finished seventh with a time of 18:17.9 over 5K…Villanova opened its season with a pair of meets last Friday, including the Coaching Tree Invitational where Lydia Olivere was the top Wildcat, placing 14^th and all seven runners finishing in the top half of the field. At the Main Line Invitational at Haverford, freshman Micah Trusty finished fourth in her collegiate debut.
 
National Polls – BIG EAST teams remained strong in the USTFCCCA polls released on Sept. 13. In the men’s poll, Villanova is No. 16, Georgetown is No. 23 and Butler is No. 27. Providence is receiving votes.  In the women’s poll, Providence leads at No. 15 with Georgetown at No. 19. Villanova and Butler are receiving votes.
The BIG EAST Cross Country Championships will be held October 29 at Highland Park in Attleboro, Mass.