MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The defending BIG EAST Champions, the West Virginia University cross country team, will travel to the 2008 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships held in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx N.Y. The race is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

WVU placed three runners in the top 10 last season; Marie-Louise Asselin placed second with a time of 20:19, Keri Bland was fourth at 20:30 and Clara Grandt finished in 20:59 in eighth place.

“Our girls know they have the ability to win,” says Coach Sean Cleary. “They are excited to get out there and try to win it again.”

For the second consecutive week, WVU is ranked No. 5 in the country in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Associations Division I Women’s National Poll, released on Tuesday. The Mountaineers have been the highest ranked BIG EAST squad all season and have been ranked in the top 10 of every poll this season, dating back to the preseason picks on Sept. 16. The No. 5 ranking is the best in program history.

The Mountaineers are coming off a first-place finish at the Penn State National Invitational on Oct. 17. The first-place finish was the third of the season for the Mountaineers. WVU took first place on Aug. 30, at the Preston Relays and on Oct. 3, at the Paul Short Invitational. WVU took fourth place on Sept. 13, at the Princeton Invitational.

The BIG EAST website will have up-to-date results on its championship central page at www.BIGEAST.org, as well as highlights from the day’s race. Print View   Email