Villanova University

Nov. 13, 2004

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Junior Marina Muncan (Pancevo, Yugoslavia) placed second in a field of 162 runners on Saturday on the Penn State Blue-White golf courses, and the Villanova's women's cross country team advanced to the 2004 NCAA Championships on Monday, November 22 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Overall, the Wildcats finished second out of 24 teams to secure a spot in the championships.

Muncan ran the 6K women's race in a time of 20:42, falling just 16 seconds short of the winning pace set by a runner from Pittsburgh. Following Muncan were a trio of Villanovans that placed 14th through 16th. Senior Ioana Parusheva (Silven, Bulgaria) finished 14th with a time of 21:36, junior Elizabeth Gesel (Manchester, N.H.) was 15th in 21:38, and senior Colleen Taylor (Wilmington, Del.) crossed in 16th place with a time of 21:44. Rounding out the Wildcat top five was senior Kirsty Smith (Vancouver, B.C.), who was 21st with a time of 21:55.

The Wildcats came within a few points of a first-place team finish. Villanova's 68 points were just five behind West Virginia (63). The Wildcats finished ahead of four other BIG EAST schools. The top five was rounded out by Princeton (83), Georgetown (112) and host Penn State (114).

On the men's side, Villanova placed fifth out of 23 teams. The Wildcats were led by BIG EAST champion Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.), who finished third out of 159 runners in the men's 10K race. Curtis crossed in a time of 30:33 and finished a mere nine seconds off the winning pace set by a Georgetown runner.

Curtis led a group of Wildcat sophomores that made up the team's entire top five. Marc Pelerin (Marlton, N.J.) produced a 17th-place finish (31:08), and was the team's only other runner to finish in the top 20. Michael Kerrigan (Stroudsburg, Pa.) placed 32nd (31:54), while Kippy Keino (Eldoret, Kenya) and David Van Orsdel (Minnetonka, Minn.) each ran 32:03 to finish 36th and 37th, respectively.

Villanova totaled 125 points to finish behind Georgetown (49), American (63), Penn (112) and La Salle (115) in the field. The Wildcats also finished ahead of two other BIG EAST teams in their regional.