NEW YORK – Connecticut’s Calista Mayer and St. John’s Leyre Campo de Quevedo will share BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week honors in Cross Country after both runners won their respective races. With very limited competition on the men’s side this past week, Male Athlete of the Week honors will return next week.
 
BIG EAST Female Athletes of the Week
Calista Mayer, Connecticut, Jr.
Leyre Campo de Quevedo, St. John’s, Fr.
Mayer finished first in the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup in Hopkinton, N.H., winning the 6K race in a time of 21:58. The junior led the Huskies to securing the team competition crown while her team took the first three spots in the meet.
Campo de Quevedo won the Metropolitan Championships at Branch Brook Park in Newark, N.J. She finished first in the 5K with a personal best time of 17:45.7. The Red Storm took third place in the team standings.
 
Men’s Notes – Providence grad student Liam Back finished third and led the Friars to the team title in a field of 17 teams at the New England Cross Country Championships in Hopkinton, N.H. Back covered the 8K course in 24:23.11. The top three Friars runners did not compete…Seton Hall finished second in the Metropolitan Championships. The Pirates were led by sophomore Joseph Butler who finished third with a time of 25:27.31.
 
Women’s Notes – Providence senior Niamh O’Mahony placed third at the New England Cross Country Championships. She ran the 5K course in 17:14.89 in sunny and warm conditions. The Friars also finished third in the team standings in the 19-team field…For the first time in program history, Seton Hall won the team title at the Metropolitan Championships. Senior Julia Smith and junior Honey Strosnider ran 18:03.18 and 18:03.76, respectively, to finish third and fourth.
 
National Polls – BIG EAST men’s and women’s teams continued to show strength in the national polls. In the most recent USTFCCCA Polls from Oct. 8, Georgetown is the highest ranked squad on the women’s side at No. 9 followed by Providence at No. 10, Villanova at No. 25 with UConn among teams receiving votes. In the men’s poll, Butler is 18^th, Villanova is 19^th and Georgetown is 26^th.