West Virginia runners and coaches pose with the 2007 BIG EAST Cross Country championship trophy.
Big East photo
By Nathaniel Zinn for MSNsportsNET.com
October 28, 2007
We are thrilled with this performance today; it was a complete team effort,” Head Coach Sean Cleary says. “We’re very proud of this achievement and hopefully this will be a stepping stone for the rest of the season.”
The squad becomes the fourth program in school history to win a BIG EAST Conference title joining men’s swimming (2006), football (1993, 2003, 2004, and 2005) and baseball (1996). Women’s soccer and men’s soccer both own regular season titles.
WVU finished with 77 points, while defending league champion No. 22 Providence finished second with 87 points. No. 11 Georgetown was third (92), Syracuse was fourth (119) and Villanova came in fifth with 125 points.
WVU sophomore Marie-Louise Asselin placed second with a time of 20:19. Fellow sophomore Keri Bland was fourth at 20:30 and Clara Grandt finished in 20:59 in eighth place. Maria Dalzot was 30th at 21:38 and freshman Kate Harrison was the final Mountaineer to count towards the team score, placing 33rd (21:40). Kaylyn Christopher was 43rd at 21:57 and Alison Spiker was 64th at 22:35.
Georgetown’s Melissa Grelli won the individual title, crossing in 20:05.
By finishing in the top 15, Asselin, Bland and Grandt earn first team all-BIG EAST honors. The three all-BIG EAST performers in one season is the most in school history. WVU’s last all-BIG EAST performer was Susan Davis in 2005.
WVU previously finished sixth at the conference championships last year and 12th in 2005.
The Mountaineers return to action at the Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 10, in Bethlehem, Pa., at 11 a.m