NEW YORK (October 31, 2024)– The Georgetown women and Butler men will aim to defend their respective crowns at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships presented by JEEP. The races will be held at Marven Park in Leesburg, Va., on November 1. Georgetown University and Trials of Miles are the co-hosts for the event.
 
The women’s 6K race will begin at 10 a.m. ET and the men’s 8K race begins at 10:50 a.m. Marven Park will be hosting the BIG EAST Championships for the first time.
 
Last year, the Georgetown women enjoyed their second straight comfortable victory in the team standings, The Hoyas finished with only 28 points while runner-up Providence had 56 points. Georgetown placed five runners among the top 10 finishers.
 
The men’s race was much closer with Butler’s 36 points edging Villanova’s total of 42 points. The Wildcats had the top two finishers, but the Bulldogs took third, fourth, fifth and 10^th.
 
In the latest USTFCCCA polls, three women’s and three men’s teams are ranked. In the women’s poll, Georgetown is ninth followed by No. 12 Providence and No. 27 Villanova. In the men’s poll, Villanova is No. 17 followed by No. 21 Georgetown and No. 27 Butler.
 
The broadcast of the BIG EAST Championships presented by JEEP is being produced by the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports presented by Invesco QQQ. Justin Corrigan returns to call the action.
 
To watch the race live on FloSports, click HERE.
 
Women’s Preview:
Georgetown’s pursuit of a fifth straight title would be the second longest title streak in BIG EAST cross country history. Villanova won six straight championships from 1989-94 and four consecutive from 2008-11.
 
Individually, Georgetown’s Chloe Scrimgeour is back to defend her crown. Last year, her time of 19:59 was seven seconds ahead of Providence’s Kimberley May, who has paced the Friar squad throughout this fall season. May is coming off a first-place finish at the Princeton Fall Classic with Scrimgeour finishing second.
 
Georgetown has some quality depth with Melissa Riggins and Lucy Jenks. Riggins took third place in last year’s Championship and finished seventh in this year’s Nuttycombe Invitational. Jenks has had a strong fall season, finishing fourth at Princeton and 14^th at Nuttycombe.
 
Providence was the team runner-up last year. In addition to May, Friar veteran Shannon Flockhart has been a dependable contributor. She has two top-10 finishes in the BIG EAST Championship. This fall, she is coming off a 10^th-place finish at Princeton. Alex Millard was fifth at Princetown to help PC finish second to Georgetown in the team standings.
 
All five of Villanova’s scoring runners from last season are back. Senior Sadie Sigfstead finished fourth last year and has two top-5 finishes in the Championship. She won the individual title at the Nuttycombe two weeks ago and is the defending champion of last year’s NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.
 
The top Wildcat newcomer is fifth-year student Nikki Vanasse, a transfer from Columbia. She finished 11^th at the Nuttycombe. At Columbia, Vanasse was an All-Northeast Region performer.
 
UConn, which finished fourth last year, has been led throughout the fall by Chloe Thomas. She is coming off a fifth-place finish and set a PR at the very competitive Pre-Nationals Invitational at Wisconsin. In last year’s BIG EAST Championship, Thomas took seventh place, which helped the Huskies take fourth place.
 
Butler was fifth last year. The Bulldogs are led by Elsa Rusthoven and Wiktoria Klebowska. Rusthoven represented the program in the NCAA Championships last spring. She was 13^th at last year’s Championship. Klebowska took 17^th last year and was fourth this fall at the Bradley “Pink” Classic. She qualified for the NCAAs during the 2024 outdoor track & field season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
 
DePaul will look to improve on its sixth-place finish. Meghan Dieball has been the team’s top finisher in three of the last four meets.
 
Freshman Nadia Perez has been the leader for Xavier throughout the fall. She finished seventh at Bradley. The Musketeers were seventh last year.
 
Creighton is coming off a team title at the Platte River Rumble. Taylor Rorick finished third individually and the Bluejays had five runners among the top-10 finishers. Creighton was eighth last year at the BIG EAST.
 
St. John’s took ninth place last year. This year, a young Red Storm squad has been led by freshman Leyre Campo de Quevedo. She set a PR at the recent ECAC Championships. Freshmen Naiara Garcia and Brenin Mahon have shown promise in their rookie seasons.
 
Marquette had Emma Coon set a new PR at the Bradley. The next five Golden Eagle runners also set PRs. The women’s team PR’d by an average of 30.8 seconds.
 
In its more recent race, Seton Hall finished 10^th in a 20-team field at the ECAC Championship. Honey Strosnider has been the team’s top performer in five of the six races this year.
 
Men’s Preview:
For the men’s race, Villanova’s Liam Murphy will be aiming to become the first back-to-back individual winner since VU’s Patrick Tiernan won four straight titles from 2013-16. Murphy has also won the last two Mid-Atlantic Regional crowns. Most recently, he was the runner-up at the Princeton Fall Classic. Junior Marco Langon finished fourth in last year’s Championship and has been an All-BIG EAST performer in each of his first two seasons.
 
Butler has won three of the last four men’s Championships. This year, William Zegarski has been one of the leaders. He finished 14^th against a loaded field at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. Last year, Zegarski finished fourth at the BIG EAST Championship. Teammate Florian Le Pallec took third. Jesse Hamlin is set to make his first appearance of the fall since earning all-America honors in the 5,000 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring.
 
Georgetown, a perennial BIG EAST contender, took third place last year. The Hoyas are coming off a second-place finish at the Princeton Fall Classic. Abel Teffra was the top Hoya performer, finishing seventh. Lucas Guerra has enjoyed a strong fall campaign and took 11^th place at Princeton. He also took fourth place at the Spiked Shoe Invitational. James Dunne and Luke Ondracek give the Hoyas some strong depth.
 
Providence finished fourth last season. This fall, the Friars are led by Michael Morgan who finished 22^nd at Princeton. Liam Back took third in the New England Championships earlier this month. In last year’s BIG EAST Championship, Back finished eighth. PC owns 15 BIG EAST team titles and 11 individual crowns.
 
Creighton took fifth place last year, which tied the Bluejays’ best finish at the BIG EAST. The Bluejays’ top two finishers from last year, Marcos Gonzalez and Ryan Montera, are back. They are coming off a team victory in the Platte River Rumble. Evan Kraus was the individual winner. The Bluejays won the BIG EAST Team Academic Excellence Award for 2023-24.
 
Damian Rodriguez has been a leader for DePaul. All five of the top Blue Demons recorded personal records at the recent Bradley “Pink” Classic.
 
Xavier also completed its season in the Bradley meet. Trevor Nolan prepped for the BIG EAST Championship in the best way possible, setting the school record in the 8K with a time of 24:17.25. He broke a record that was set in 2012.
 
Marquette was paced by Logan Goodman and Charlie McCurdy at the Golden Eagles’ last meet, at Bradley. Both set personal bests.
 
Seton Hall finished second in the recent Metropolitan Championships. Joseph Butler took third place. Stephen Beaman and Logan Brunozzi have also enjoyed strong fall seasons.