Junior Frances Koons captured the women’s 6K Big East cross country championship title this past Friday, registering the eighth-fastest time in the conference championship since 1994 with a time of 20:38.

Koons’ performance propelled the women’s cross country team to a fourth place team finish, one spot better than last season’s fifth place finish. In total, three Wildcat runners claimed spots in the top 20, including Koons, freshman Siobhan Coleman, who placed 19th with a time of 21:38, and senior Akilah Vargas, who placed 20th with a time of 21:42.

Head Coach Gina Procaccio was pleased with the team’s performance.

“Having three runners finish in the top 20 was great for us,” she said.

Villanova senior Zita Mezei, who finished 30th with a time of 22:02, and graduate student Katina Alexander, who finished 40th with a time of 22:14, rounded out the top five runners for Villanova. Freshman Theresa Rush, who placed 51st with a time of 22:46, and junior Jullian Baczewski, who placed 53rd, also provided solid performances for the Wildcats. Finishing up for the team were sophomore Ellen Dougherty, who recently rejoined the team after an early season injury, and junior Casey Nelson with times of 22:53 and 23:19 respectively.

Although the Wildcats ran a strong race, Providence’s placed four runners in the top 10 out of 131, enabling the team to steal the show and earn top honors.

As the ‘Cats prepare for the East Regional Championship, which will be held on Nov. 11 at Lock Haven, they remain focused on continually improving their workouts in hopes of having a strong performance.

After enduring the loss of its top runner, senior captain Bobby Curtis, due to an injury a week ago, the men’s cross country still managed to capture a sixth place finish out of a field of 14 teams in last Friday’s Big East Championship. Impressively, three Wildcats finished in the top 20, including Villanova’s lead runner Andrew Keino, who finished in 17th place with a time of 24:17. In addition, senior Michael Kerrigan and graduate student Milos Mitric each finished with times of 24:18 to finish 18th and 19th respectively.