St. John's University Athletics
Cross Country Hosts BIG EAST Championships On Friday
10/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's cross country team will host the BIG EAST Championships on Friday, Oct. 31, as 16 women's teams and 14 men's teams return to Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale, N.Y., after a two-year absence.
The event kicks off at 10:30 a.m., with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 8K at 11:10 a.m. Last season in Louisville, Ky., West Virginia won on the women's side with 77 points, while the men's championship was led by Louisville with 55 points. St. John's finished 15th with 453 points and an average time of 24:12.28, as Tyneka Greene led the Red Storm finishing 77th at 23:15.10.
"The BIG EAST is one of the premier conferences for cross country and track & field in the nation," said Red Storm head coach Jim Hurt. "On the ladies side, 11 of the 16 teams competing are ranked in their respective regions, while on the men's side eight are regionally ranked. Friday will be a highly competitive race. We have some of the best individual runners in the country coming to Van Cortlandt Park, so both races should prove to be an outstanding competition."
Van Cortlandt Park has been the site for the BIG EAST Championships 11 times. From 1991 until 2006, Van Cortlandt and Franklin Park in Boston were on an every-other-year rotation as the BIG EAST's host course. The women's record time at Van Cortlandt is 20:01, produced by Providence's Kim Smith in 2003.
"We usually run Van Cortlandt a couple times a year, but so far we've only run it once this season, with the Metropolitan Championships," said Hurt. "Our team did a great job the first time running it, but normally teams have a big improvement running it the second time as they get used to the hills. Our team is looking very good in practice, the best I've seen our team run in the past 10 years. We are really excited about Tyneka developing into a top individual runner for us, and our lead pack of five has been really tight all season. We really have something to look forward to going into the BIG EAST Championships."
In addition to the BIG EAST Championships, Van Cortlandt will also be the site of the NCAA Regionals (Nov. 15) and the ECAC Championships (Nov. 22).
STORMTRACKER
In six races, St. John's has run to two team titles, the Hofstra Invitational (Sept. 6) and the STJ Fall Festival (Oct. 19). Friday's event will be the team's first 6K event of the season. In the Red Storm's last time out, the team hosted the annual STJ Fall Festival at Cunningham Park in Queens, N.Y. Led by Greene, who repeated as the individual champion at 13:53.65, St. John's finished five runners in the top 10 to win its home event with 21 points and an average time of 14:24.13.
At the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 10, St. John's finished fourth out of 14 teams with 100 points and the team's best average 5K time of 19:47. Greene placed eighth with a time of 19:09.
The Red Storm has been led all season by Greene and a core of underclassmen that features freshmen Sabine Schneider, Nicole Cocozza and Aryon Trujillo and sophomore Sarah Sudbury.
"The freshmen have been pretty fantastic all season," remarked Hurt. "They are pretty consistent and they approach things with a great competitive spirit. They don't get too nervous, they focus, they are able to execute very well. In the six races we've had so far, we've come to rely on them quite a bit. We are looking for them to continue what they have been doing all season long, which should turn out pretty well for the BIG EAST Championships."
Greene currently holds the top times in both the 5K and 4K races. Schneider, a rookie from Bad Driburg, Germany, has the team's second-fastest 5K time at 19:19, with a 10th place finish at the Metropolitan Championships. She was also the individual champion at the Hofstra Invitational (Sept. 6). Trujillo finished runner-up at the STJ Fall Festival with the team's second-fastest 4K time of 14:21.56. Sudbury, in her second season with the Red Storm, has been a consistent part of St. John's top five, running her career-best 5K time of 19:44 at the National Catholic Championships (Sept. 19) as she crossed the tape second for St. John's.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
On the women's side, West Virginia will be looking for a repeat title as the Mountaineers return all three of their runners who finished in the top 10 of last year's championship. Mountaineer Marie-Louise Asselin finished runner-up last year and is looking to capture this season's individual title. At Lehigh's Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3, Asselin set the meet and course record with a time of 19:38.
In the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) poll released on Oct. 28, four of the women's teams are ranked nationally, No. 5 West Virginia, No. 6 Villanova, No. 11 Georgetown and No. 24 Providence. Syracuse is also receiving votes in the national poll. On the men's side, Georgetown and Providence are ranked in the top 25, while Villanova is receiving a vote in the poll.
UP NEXT
After the BIG EAST Championships, St. John's continues with its championship run, as the team returns to Van Cortlandt Park for the NCAA East Regionals on Nov. 15.
Players Mentioned
