Three Musketeers Earn All-Conference Honors at BIG EAST Championships

Saturday, October 31

Mason, Ohio

11 a.m.

Xavier University

BIG EAST Championships

Three Musketeers Earn All-Conference Honors at BIG EAST Championships

10.31.15 | Cross Country

Xavier women place fourth, men take seventh

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

MASON, Ohio - Three Xavier women's cross country runners earned all-conference honors on Saturday at the BIG EAST Championships, highlighting the team's fourth-place finish against nationally ranked competition. The men placed seventh at the championship meet.

The championship event was hosted by Xavier at the Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio - the first BIG EAST Championship event hosted by Xavier.

The women's team posted its highest finish since joining the conference in 2013, finishing behind Providence, Georgetown and Villanova who all entered the meet ranked in the top-30 nationally.

The Musketeers had three women earn All-BIG EAST honors, paced by freshman Caroline Gosser. The Louisville, Ky., native posted a 6K time of 20:24 to place 16th.

Gosser set the school record by 22 seconds - previously held by Becky Clark for eight years - despite an early fall on the course. Roughly 400 yards into the race, she collided with a teammate and dropped to last place before making up ground over the course of the race.

"The women's race was unbelievable," said head coach Ryan Orner. "This was really two years in the making. We had some high goals last year, but we fell a little short with a young team. They spent the last year rededicating themselves and worked very hard to get where we know we can be in the conference."

Senior Sarah Mazzei and sophomore Madeline Britton were the other two all-conference honorees as they finished 17th and 18th, respectively. Mazzei crossed the finish line in a time of 20:26.5 - the 2nd fastest time in school history - while Britton posted a time of 20:29.1 to rank third in school history.

Redshirt-junior Caterina Karas and junior Delainey Burnett closed out the top-five women's runners as Karas placed 32nd (21:03.5 - 7th fastest in XU history) and Burnett finished 45th (21:35.6 - 20th fastest in XU history).

The Xavier men were paced by sophomore Garrett Knapik who placed 33rd in a time of 24:48.2 - the ninth fastest time in school history. All told, eight of the 10 runners on the men's team posted personal best times. Knapik's finish was also the highest by a XU runner at the BIG EAST Championships.

"I thought the men's race went well for us," said Orner. "We fell just short of our team goal as Creighton edged us by one point at the end, but all the guys ran their hearts out today and I was impressed with how tough they ran."

Junior Aaron Peterson placed 36th in a time of 24:51.9 - the 10th fastest time in school history - followed by junior Avery Campbell in 48th (25:17). The top-five was rounded out by freshmen Grayson Jenkins (53rd - 25:21) and Charles Korodi (55th - 25:25).

Georgetown captured the men's team title, followed by Villanova and Providence.

The Musketeers return to action at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 13 in Madison, Wis.

WOMEN'S TEAM FINISH

Place (Points)
1. Providence (26)
2. Georgetown (54)
3. Villanova (86)
4. Xavier (124)
5. Butler (136)
6. Marquette (149)
7. Creighton (167)
8. DePaul (234)
9. St. John's (245)
10. Seton Hall (316)

MEN'S TEAM FINISH

Place (Points)
1. Georgetown (33)
2. Villanova (34)
3. Providence (68)
4. Butler (97)
5. Marquette (152)
6. Creighton (195)
7. Xavier (196)
8. DePaul (228)
9. Seton Hall (255)