NEW YORK – Butler grad student Wiktoria Klebowska has been named BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week for Cross Country. Xavier’s Trevor Nolan has earned BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week honors. Both runners recorded impressive performances at the Vic Godfrey Open in Kenosha, Wis.   

BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Wiktoria Klebowska, Butler, Gr.
In her first cross country race at Butler, Klebowska captured the individual title at the Vic Godfrey Open held at the Wayne Dannehal Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wis., where the 2023 BIG EAST Championship will be held on Oct. 28. She ran the 4K race in 14:09.18 with teammate Abby Olson finishing second at 14:09.58. The Bulldogs won the team title in a 10-team field. Klebowska transferred from Cal-Baptist following the 2022 fall semester.

BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Trevor Nolan, Xavier, R-Jr.
Nolan helped the Musketeers win the men’s side of the Vic Godfrey Open at the Wayne Dannehal Cross Country Course. He finished second in the 6K race in 18:40.35 competing against 143 runners. He was the first collegian to cross the finish line as Anthony Farmer of Team Ingebrigtsen won the race in a time of 18:34.72.

Men’s Notes
Georgetown junior Lucas Guerra finished second at the Spider Alumni Open at Pole Green Park. He ran the 6K course in 17:58.8 and helped the Hoyas finish second in a 14-team field that included No. 10 Virginia…Butler redshirt junior Sean Robertson was the top Bulldog performer at the Vic Godfrey Open, claiming fourth place with a 6K time of 18:59.57…Creighton senior Marcos Gonzalez opened his senior season with a fourth-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational. He ran the 6K course in a time of 18:13.4, finishing 16 seconds behind the race winner, Iowa’s Max Murphy. Creighton finished second to Iowa in the team standings.

Women’s Notes:
Providence freshman Reese Fahys won the Rothenburg Invite held at the Mark Coogan Course in Highland Park, Mass., which was the locale of last fall’s BIG EAST Championship. Fahys ran the 3K race in 10:44.0...Creighton’s Danielle Hotalling, after redshirting last year, returned to form with a second-place finish in the Hawkeye Invitational women’s race. She covered the 4K course in 14:11.2 and has been CU’s top performer in all 22 races in her career. Her runner-up finish was 8.6 seconds behind Illinois State’s Claire Fuhlhage. The Bluejays finished second to the Hawkeyes in the team standings…Georgetown finished third in a 16-team field at the Spider Alumni Open. Junior Mary Hennelly finished in eighth place with a time of 13:59.0 over 6K…Seton Hall finished in the top four positions at the Salisbury University Fall Classic, winning the team title. Junior Julia Smith led the Pirate charge, clocking a 6K time of 21:58.26…St. John’s began its season at the Stony Brook Season Opener where the Red Storm placed sixth in a seven-team field. Grad student Claire Cushing led the squad, finishing eighth overall with a 4K time of 14:23.7…Xavier sophomore Jamie Klavon helped the Musketeers place second at the Vic Godfrey Open. She finished third with a time of 14:13.24 in the 4K race.

National Polls – BIG EAST teams were well represented in the USTFCCCA preseason polls released on Aug. 30. In the men’s poll, Villanova is No. 12 and Butler is No. 19 with Providence and Georgetown receiving votes. In the women’s poll, Georgetown is tied for 11^th and Providence is No. 14.  
The BIG EAST Cross Country Championships will be held October 28 at the Wayne E. Dannehal Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisc.