Men Take Fourth, Women Sixth at BIG EAST Championships

CARMEL, Ind. – The Marquette University cross country teams completed a successful 2018 BIG EAST Championships at the Northview Church Course hosted by Butler on Saturday. The men turned in their best-ever finish and, for the second-straight year, had two All-BIG EAST honorees.

Junior Daniel Pederson nearly matched his eighth-place finish from a year ago, taking ninth place overall and becoming the first Marquette runner with back-to-back top-10 finishes at a BIG EAST Championship meet. Senior Jon Klaiber used a strong kick at the end to place 14th overall and earn All-BIG EAST honors for the first time.

As a team, the Golden Eagle men registered their lowest score and highest finish in a BIG EAST meet, winning the tie-breaker over Providence to place fourth with 117 points. Senior Ryan Burd was two spots and three seconds away from a 20th-place finish, which would have earned Marquette a third All-BIG EAST performer for the first time.

Alex Gill (41st) and Patrick Bruch (42nd) crossed the line in unison to complete the Golden Eagles' top-five scorers, while Danny Peterson (49th) and Matt Cavanaugh (50th) were close behind to round out the team's top-seven.

"What more can you say about Daniel, Jon and Ryan's performances today, but it really was the whole team," Marquette head coach Mike Nelson said. "I thought the guys got out really intelligently It was a lot of fun watching them move up throughout the race and finish strong."

The women's side featured seven of their 10 entries without BIG EAST meet experience, but persevered through a solid race performance.

"Overall, I felt like it was a really solid effort for the ladies," Nelson said. "I thought we competed really hard. We performed and represented Marquette very well. To take an inexperienced group like we had and have a really solid effort, I was happy with that."

Mary Hanson led the squad for the fifth time this season, finishing just outside the top-20 with a 28th-place finish in a time of 22:01. Caitlin McGauley (33rd), Kendall Pfrimmer (41st), Emily Foley (42nd) and Amy Gasperlin (23:09) gave Marquette its top-five scorers all inside the top-50 runners. Mary Rose Flood (51st) and Emma Moravec (53rd) rounded out the top-seven.

Georgetown and Villanova repeated as men's and women's champions, respectively.

On Nov. 9, the Golden Eagles head to Terre Haute, Indiana for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional hosted by Indiana State.

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).

Women's Individual Leaders
1.      Caroline Alcorta, Villanova              20:12.4
2.      Rachel McArthur, Villanova             20:16.5
3.      Paige Hofstead, Georgetown          20:33.0
4.      Abbey Wheeler, Providence            20:35.3
5.      Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova           20:39.5
6.      Taryn O'Neill, Villanova                 20:55.7
7.      Lydia Olivere, Villanova                  20:59.5
8.      Ann Campbell, Villanova 21:04.5
9.      Josephine Thestrup, Butler 21:06.2
10.   Margie Cullen, Georgetown 21:16.4

Women's Team Leaders
1.      Villanova - 21
2.      Georgetown - 73
3.      Providence - 76
4.      Butler - 91
5.      Xavier - 118
6.      Marquette - 176
7.      DePaul - 232
8.      Creighton - 238
9.      Seton Hall - 251
10.   St. John's - 261

Men's Individual Leaders
1.      Casey Comber, Villanova                 23:59.7
2.      Nick Wareham, Georgetown            24:08.7
3.      Andrew Marston, Villanova              24:16.5
4.      Jack Van Scoter, Georgetown         24:22.6
5.      Euan Makepeace, Butler                24:29.4
6.      Barry Keane, Butler                         24:42.0
7.      Matt Bouthillette, Georgetown         24:47.6
8.      Christian Liddell, Georgetown         24:51.6
9.      Daniel Pederson, Marquette 24:55.5
10.   Charlie O'Donovan, Villanova          24:58.5

Men's Team Leaders
1.      Georgetown - 32
2.      Villanova - 45
3.      Butler - 53
4.      Marquette - 117
5.      Providence - 117
6.      Xavier - 169
7.      DePaul - 209
8.      Creighton - 236
9.      Seton Hall - 288