Lipari & Tiernan Take Top-10 Finishes at XC NationalsMen Finish 18th, Women 19th

 Highlights from NCAA XC Nationals

Capping a great freshman campaign, Tiernan was 9th overall

On a cold and blustery day in Terre Haute, senior Emily Lipari (5th overall) and freshman Patrick Tiernan (9th overall) led the Villanova women and men to top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Cross Country championships.  Lipari and Tiernan each earned All-American honors, as did Sam McEntee who came 27th overall.  Senior Nicky Akande missed All-American status by a mere 3 spots, finishing 43rd overall. The Villanova men went 8-22-116-130-139-(154)- (170) to finish with 415 places, while the Villanova women finished with 397 places by virtue of a 3-27-65-122-180-(211)-(212) showing. Colorado won the men's team competition, while Providence took the women's team title.

Comparing the 2012 and 2013 races,  both held on the same course, shows how much tougher conditions were this year.  For example, Emily Lipari actually ran 5 seconds faster (20:05.6) in 2012, when she finished 25th, than she did this year (20:10.8) when she came 5th overall.  Likewise, Nicky Akande's 20:46.5 was good for 95th last year, while her 20:47.9 resulted in 43rd place this year. Overall, only Sam McEntee (by 30 seconds), Brian Basili (by 51 seconds), and Stephanie Schappert (by 3 seconds) ran the course faster in the 2013 championship race than they did in 2012.  Yet, slower times this year generally resulted in better place results.  Sydney Harris, for example, improved 56 places over 2012, despite running the course 6 seconds slower.  So, conditions were difficult this year.  Big improvements in place were garnered over 2012 by McEntee (from 150th in 2012 to 27th this year), Basili (from 234th to 144th), Lipari (from 25th to 5th), Akande (from 95th to 43rd), Schappert (from 173rd to 91st), and Harris (from 209th to 153rd).  

The full race results are HERE.

Villanova Men  415 places   1:43.5 spread
  9.    8.   Patrick Tiernan       30:15.7     All-American
 27.   22.   Sam McEntee           30:36.7     All-American
144.  116.   Brian Basili          31:44.5 
161.  130.   Rob Denault           31:53.2
171.  139.   Harry Warnick         31:59.2
189.  (154)  Alex Tully            32:10.6
206.  (170)  Jordy Williamsz       32:24.1

Villanova Women  397 places    2:04.1 spread
  5.    3.   Emily Lipari          20:10.8     All-American
 43.   27.   Nicky Akande          20:47.9
 91.   65.   Stephanie Schappert   21:16.0
153.  122.   Sydney Harris         21:40.5
218.  180.   Angel Piccirillo      22:14.9
250.  (211)  Caitlin Bungo         23:10.2
251.  (212)  Julie Williams        23:15.5

Lipari leads Sisson and Cuffe mid-race; she finished 5th overall