Lipari Wins Big East XC Crown; Women Come 4th Overall

Villanova's Emily Lipari made it four years in a row that a Villanova women had won the Big East cross country individual title (following Sheila Reid's triad in 2009, 2010, and 2011). The photo on the left shows Lipari and Akande running 1-2 at Van Cortlandt Park this morning en route to her victory. Nicky Akande was not far behind, finishing third overall, in a typically excellent race.

However, Villanova's team depth this year is not what is has been in its dynamic championship run over the past few years. The team, however, finished a solid 4th in the team standings, behind national #9 Georgetown, #29 Connecticut, and #10 Providence. Georgetown won the meet with 58 places, and in a great display of team depth placed 6 women in the top ten overall. They beat Connecticut's excellent effort by 10 places. Connecticut came from unranked nationally two weeks ago to defeat national #10 Providence (80) today by 12 places. Villanova (83) was a close 4th, only 3 places behind national #10 Providence. Individually for Villanova, after Lipari (1st) and Akande (3rd), it was Summer Cook in 14th, Megan Venables in 28th, and Stephanie Schappert 42nd.

The full individual and team results are HERE.

2012 Big East Championship: Women

Villanova Results

 1.  Emily Lipari         Jr   20:45.33 
 3.  Nicky Akande         Jr   20:48.84 
14.  Summer Cook          Jr   21:24.65 
28.  Megan Venables       So   22:01.11 
42.  Stephanie Schappert  So   22:31.97 
48.  Courtney Chapman     So   22:46.85 
49.  Meghan Smith         SR   22:49.69 
66.  Kelsey Margey        Fr   23:25.82 
67.  Ariann Neutts        Jr   23:25.92

Team Results

 1.  Georgetown      58
 2.  Connecticut     68
 3.  Providence      80
 4.  Villanova       83
 5.  Notre Dame      90
 6.  Syracuse       117
 7.  Marquette      222
 8.  Cincinnati     296
 9.  Pitt           297
10.  Rutgers        302
11.  South Florida  330
12.  St Johns       391
13.  Louisville     398
14.  Seton Hall     407
15.  DePaul         418