NEW YORK – Villanova's Tilly O'Connor and Bailey Habler swept the BIG EAST weekly cross country awards after their outstanding performances at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational at the Lavern Gibson Cross Country course in Terre Haute, Ind.

O'Connor led the Villanova women's cross country team to a top 10 finish at Pre-Nats, placing 37th overall while covering the six-kilometer course in a time of 20:10.0.  Habler took sixth place overall, clocking 23:23.4 in the eight-kilometer race as the Wildcats finished sixth as a team.

BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week
Tilly O'Connor, Villanova, Sr.
O'Connor was Villanova's top finisher at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational, clocking 20:10.0 for the six-kilometer race.  It marked the sixth straight meet dating back to last season that O'Connor was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line.  O'Connor placed 37th overall, helping to lead the Wildcats to a ninth place finish as a team in a field with several nationally ranked teams.

BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week
Bailey Habler, Villanova, Sr.
Habler finished sixth overall at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational, leading Villanova to a second place finish as a team.  The senior harrier covered the eight-kilometer race in a time of 23:23.4, running with the lead pack the entire race and using a strong finish to move into the top 10 of the race.  The 1-5 spread of Wildcats' scorers was just 29.4 seconds in the race.

Women's Notes – Four BIG EAST teams competed at the Under Armour Pre-National invitational...Villanova and UConn ran in the blue race at Pre-Nats, while Butler and DePaul competed in the white race...Villanova's top two finishers were separated by less than two seconds at the finish line and the Wildcats moved up from 13th to ninth in the team standings over the course of the race...UConn's Sascha Letica led the Huskies to a 16th place team finish...Three UConn runners finished among the top 100 of the race, led by Letica's 51st place performance of 20:23.4 - a new 6K personal best time...Butler's Hannah Moore finished 20th overall in the white race, clocking 21:22.7...the Bulldogs finished third in the team standings...Isabella Orozco of DePaul placed 35th, clocking a 6K personal best time of 21:39.8...the Blue Demons were eighth as a team, with the 1-5 scorers finishing in a 53.5 second span...Creighton's Taylor Rorick placed seventh in a time of 22:41.9 at the Platte River Rumble Collegiate race - her third straight Top 10 finish...the Bluejays were edged out of the team title by one point...Georgetown wrapped up its regular season at the Princeton Fall Classic, placing eighth...Victoria Ketzler was the Hoyas' top finisher, placing 30th with a time of 21:53.8...Marquette's Isabelle Wiebe was Marquette's top finisher at the Panorama Farms Invitational, placing 66th overall in a time of 23:13.8, leading the Golden Eagles to a 10th place finish...Seton Hall and St. John's competed at the ECAC Championship, finishing in 20th and 24th place, respectively...the Pirates were led by Paige Quigley who finished in 129th place in a time of 22:19.90...Naiara Garcia-Moreno was the top finisher for the Red Storm, crossing the line in 96th place in a time of 22:06.20.

Men's Notes – Villanova and DePaul raced at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational...the Wildcats had one of its best all-around team performances in several years with a gap of less than 30 seconds separating its top five runners en route to a second place finish...DePaul competed at the Under Armour Pre-National invitational, placing 42nd as a team...Mason Kreig led the Blue Demons with a 24:58.9 performance over the 8K course...Coming off a win at the Briar Cliff Invite two weeks ago, Creighton's Tommy Murray picked up a second consecutive victory as won the Platte River Rumble Collegiate race in a time of 24:48.7...the Bluejay men finished in second in the seven-team field...Dylan Riniker from Marquette placed 21st overall at the Panorama Farms Invitational, crossing the line in a time of 25:14.1...the Golden Eagles placed eighth as a team in the competitive national field...Seton Hall's Joseph Butler was the top finisher at the IC4A Championship, clocking 25:17.30 for the 8K race...the Pirates placed 21st overall as a team. 

In The Polls – The USTFCCCA national poll #5 was released on Tuesday, Oct. 20.  For the men, Georgetown moved up to No. 11, followed by Villanova at No. 12.  Butler sits at No. 26.  The BIG EAST is one of five conferences with at least two teams ranked among the nation's top 15 and is one of six leagues with three teams in the top 30.  On the women's poll, Providence ranks No. 30. 

On the week #5 regional polls, released on Oct. 19, several BIG EAST teams are featured:

Women
Great Lakes: 12. Butler
Mid-Atlantic: 4. Villanova; 8. Georgetown
Northeast: 1. Providence; 4. UConn

Men
Great Lakes: 4. Butler
Mid-Atlantic: 1. Villanova; 2. Georgetown
Northeast: 5. Providence