The women’s cross-country team, the top-ranked team in the NCAA, came out victorious for the third year in a row at the Big East Championship meet on Saturday morning, this time in Jamesville, N.Y. The men’s team also had success on Saturday morning at Jamesville Beach Park, finishing fourth in the Big East Championship.

With a score of 26, the women easily beat out the 15-team field. Seniors Sheila Reid and Amanda Marino placed first and second, respectively, with times of 20:31.9 and 20:35.2 for the up and down 6 km course.

All five of the Villanova scoring runners finished in the top 11, with senior Ali Smith placing fifth, junior Bogdana Mimic coming in seventh and freshman Emily Lipari finishing 11th.

The Georgetown Hoyas came in a distant second with 42 points; Reid and Marino were seven seconds ahead of the third place Georgetown runner. Although both teams had three runners finish in the top 10, the Wildcats had the advantage with the top two runners, and a span of just 49 seconds between the first runner, Reid, and the fifth runner, Lipari.

The Wildcats went into the Big East Championship race prepared, after claiming the team title at the Penn State National and Notre Dame Invitational this season. Syracuse, the host team, finished third overall with a score of 79, Providence was fourth with 90 and West Virginia took the fifth spot with 149.

The men’s team was led by junior Mathew Mildenhall, who took eighth overall with a time of 25:23.4 for the 8 kilometer race. Mildenhall was followed by junior Matt Kane and senior Keith Capecci, who placed 13th and 14th, respectively, with times of 25:35.0 and 25:35.3.

The fourth Wildcat runner was senior Hugo Beamish, who crossed the line in 26:01.5 and finished in 21st. Beamish was followed by junior Mathew Gibney, who finished in the 29th spot overall with a time of 26:10.8.

Mildenhall, Kane and Capecci all received Big East honors. All five of the scoring runners for the Wildcats finished in the top 29, helping the team to a score of 85 for fourth place, just missing third place by one point.

The host team, Syracuse, was the winning team, with 58 points, while Louisville took second with a score of 63. Villanova was edged out of third by Providence, who posted 84 points for the advantage.

Villanova’s four remaining runners were senior Brian Long, who finished 51st with a time of 26:50.8, junior Joseph LoRusso, who was 56th in 26:57.4, sophomore Greg Morrin, who finished 60th and senior Carl Mackenzie who finished in 62nd.