Big East Up For Grabs as Conference Race Comes to Louisville

Four Ranked Teams Highlight Men's Cross Country Championship

Oct. 22, 2007

By Jason Simmons

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The BIG EAST Men's Cross Country championship will be held this weekend at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. This year's field features four nationally ranked teams, each with their eyes set on the NCAA automatic bid.

The race kicks off at 11 a.m. ET and will include a field of 14 teams from the BIG EAST Conference. "The BIG EAST is one of the best conferences in the country," said Georgetown coach Patrick Henner. "Up front we are definitely the best in the country."

Last year, a mere 26 points separated the top four schools. Notre Dame coach Joe Piane thinks this weekend's tilt may be even tighter. "It's never been as close as this. The top six teams could be within 20 points of each other. You really gotta hit it right to win."

The Fighting Irish have seemingly been "hitting it right" more often than not this season with three wins in four races thus far. Notre Dame comes into Saturday's race ranked 13th in the nation and fresh off a fifth place team finish in the 8000m white race at pre-nationals a week ago. Junior Patrick Smyth led the Irish with a fifth place individual finish. He was followed by teammate Jake Watson, who crossed the finish line in 17th place. Notre Dame will be looking to improve on last year's BIG EAST race where they finished third overall.

Last year's runner-up, No. 16 Georgetown, obliterated the field at the Princeton Invitational in their last outing. The top five finishers were all Hoya runners, paced by senior Matt Debole. As a team, Georgetown's time of 2:02:12 was nearly four minutes better than second place Princeton.

"We're right on track to where we want to be. Everyone is coming into shape at the best time" said coach Henner. "Depth is the biggest asset for us in this race. We need a whole pack of runners to really run well."

Louisville enters the conference championship having already seen the course once this season. The Cardinals won the Greater Louisville Classic back on September 29th, led by seniors Wesley Korir and Soimo Kiplagat, who finished second and third respectively. In last weekend's pre-nationals blue race, Louisville took ninth as a team, with Korir and Kiplagat once again earning top ten individual finishes.

Coach Ron Mann has his team healthy with the conference race looming and is hoping to take advantage of having the championship in Louisville. "It's huge for us. The BIG EAST has never been outside of New York City or Boston. Those courses are (pretty) historic and it's the first time it's been away from one of those two sites."

Defending tournament champion, Providence, is ranked 23rd nationally and considered to be one of the favorites to repeat. Syracuse and Villanova find themselves just outside of the top 30 and could use a solid outing this weekend to improve their at-large chances for the NCAA's.

"If you don't get an automatic bid, you hope to amass enough points to earn an at-large" said coach Piane. "The BIG EAST is an excellent meet and a good at-large opportunity."

From an individual perspective, the BIG EAST meet is just as intriguing. Villanova notched a 17th place finish at pre-nationals a week ago, but senior Robert Curtis turned in the second best individual time of the afternoon and will be near the front on Saturday. Korir, Smythe, and Providence's Max Smith are all expected to keep Curtis company, in a race that will likely go down to the wire.

"(Those four) can finish in the top ten at the NCAA's," said Georgetown's Henner. "That just shows the strength of the BIG EAST as a cross country conference this year."