Oct. 31, 2008

BRONX, N.Y. - The No. 6 Villanova women's cross country team claimed the 2008 BIG EAST Championship on Friday morning at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. The Wildcats won the title with 40 points as four runners individually placed in the top 10. This is Villanova's first cross country conference championship in 10 years and the fifth time the Villanova women have captured the conference title at Van Cortlandt Park.

The Wildcats were led by senior Frances Koons who crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 20:13. She was the first senior to finish the race and finished just three seconds behind Marie Loui Asselin of West Virginia who won the individual title, finishing in 20:10.

Freshman Bogdana Mimic finished fifth overall clocking in at 20:34 and was the top freshman finisher. Junior Kaitlyn Tallman ran the 6K in 20:47 for seventh place as sophomore Amanda Marino crossed the finish line as the top sophomore with a time of 20:50 to finish ninth overall.

Sophomore Sarah Morrison ended the race 17th with a time of 21:05, while classmates Callie Hogan and Ali Smith clocked in at 21:16 and 21:21 respectively. Hogan was 21st overall and Smith finished 24th.

Because all of the Wildcats finished in the top 25 individually, all were named to the All-BIG EAST Squad. Head coach Gina Procaccio and assistant coach Meghan Courtney were awarded with BIG EAST Staff of the Year.

"We are thrilled and so proud of the team," Procaccio said. "The victory was a total team effort and we won with good team pack running. The girls told me that for Halloween this year they wanted to be BIG EAST Champions and they got exactly what they wanted."

Villanova defeated No. 5 West Virginia, who finished second with 48 points. The Mountaineers were defending champions and had already beaten the Wildcats at the Paul Short Invitational earlier this season. Georgetown finished third with 74 points.

Complete results Women's Results