Dec. 13, 2005

Philadelphia, Pa. - Senior Marina Muncan was selected to the first-ever Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Cross Country Team, as voted by the sports information offices of the 28 institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Muncan placed second at the NCAA Regionals with a time of 20:13.2 on the 6K course to earn All-Region honors and to help Villanova take second as a team and the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. There the senior was 'Nova's top finisher, finishing 23rd out of 253 runners. For her performance, Muncan received All-American honors for the fourth straight year.

The Pancevo, Yugoslavia native was also the team's top finisher at the BIG EAST Championships, crossing the line fourth in a field of 126 and receiving All-BIG EAST honors.

Joining Muncan on the Academic All-Area team are Joy Aifuwa of University of the Sciences, Joelle Diener and Rachel McCormick of Rutgers-Camden, Claire Fawcett and Clara Sheets of Haverford College, Claire Kim and Jamie Liberti of Penn, Carolyn and Rachel Papin of La Salle, Arianna Stefanoni of Rowan and Carolyn Roberts of Cabrini.