Nov. 22, 2004

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Junior Marina Muncan (Pancevo, Yugoslavia) finished in sixth place to earn All-American honors in cross country for the third straight year, and Villanova placed seventh in the team standings on Monday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The 6,000 meter women's championship was run at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course on the campus of Indiana State University.

Under partly cloudy conditions after steady rain during the night and early morning, Muncan covered the 6K course in 20:43, leading the Wildcats to their highest finish since the 1998 team won the national championship. Muncan's time was faster than all but one of the 28 BIG EAST runners at the meet. Kim Smith of Providence won her third NCAA Championship with a time of 20:09, beating the rest of the field by 17 seconds.

Following Muncan for Villanova was senior Ioana Parusheva (Sliven, Bulgaria) in 26th place with a time of 21:13. Junior Elizabeth Gesel (Manchester, N.H.) placed 54th with a time of 21:46, while senior Kirsty Smith (North Vancouver, British Columbia) crossed in 21:52 to place 64th. Senior Colleen Taylor (Wilmington, Del.) posted a time of 22:29 and was 127th in the field of 250 runners.

Villanova was one of four BIG EAST schools at the 31-team championship. Smith led Providence to a third-place team finish, while Notre Dame was right behind in fourth place. West Virginia finished 15th in the field.

The Wildcats were making their 19th appearance at the NCAA Championships, which has been contested annually since 1981. Villanova has won seven national titles, including six in a row from 1989-1994. Colorado won the team title for the second time, with three runners in the top 10 and five in the top 25.

On the men's side of the championship, Villanova sophomore Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.) ran as an individual and earned All-America honors with a time of 31:22 in the 10,000 meter race. Curtis posted the 15th fastest time in a field of 242 runners.