The men’s cross country team finished ninth at the Big East Championships in Indianapolis. The Pirates were led by sophomore Victor Ricci, who posted a time of 26:34.2 in the 8k, which is good for 58th place. For the second straight year, Ricci was the top runner for blue and white at the conference meet.
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Continuing his final season, senior John Walsh finished second for the Pirates placing 73rd among all runners with a time of 27:27.6. The senior has scored now scored in six meets this fall.
Finishing behind Walsh were a trio freshman led by Louis Bustamante. Bustamante finished third and 74th overall for the blue and white with a time of 27:29.6 delivering his best finish of the season.
Fellow freshman Jeff Larson and Bryant Cordova, were also making their Championship debut rounded out the scoring group finishing fourth and fifth for the Pirates and 75th and 76th overall, respectively. Larson placed a time of 27:32.2, 12 seconds ahead of Cordova’s time of 27:44.0.
Villanova won the team title at the meet as they had three of their runners take the first three spots atop the leaderboard. The Wildcats were led by sophomore Patrick Tiernan who posted a time of 23:45.8 capturing the individual title for the second straight year.
Over on the women’s side, the Pirates were once again led by freshman Christiana Rutkowski to a tenth place effort in the 6k race. Rutkowski posted a time of 22:27.8, for a 41st-place finish among all runners. The freshman has finished first for the blue and white in all of the meets this season.
Senior Mary Migton was the next to score for the Pirates finishing with a time of 23:17.0 placing 58th overall. The senior has finished behind Rutkowski in all but one race, scoring in each of them.
Desyre Blackburn ranked third on the team with a time of 24:03.2 placing 72nd. Rounding out the scoring group of the Blue and White was junior Amanda Quaglia and freshman Baliey Seach. Quaglia clocked in with a time of 25:10.1 while Seach came in at 25:47.4.
Georgetown took the team title with seven of their runners finishing in the top-10. The Hoyas were led by senior Katrina Coogan who won the individual title with a time of 20:31.0.
The Pirates will look to bounce back at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championship. The race is set to take place on November 14th at 10:00 a.m.
Javon Glenn can be reached at javon.glenn@student.shu.edu or on twitter @javong25.
