Martin Earns All-Conference To Lead Strong Showing At BIG EAST Championships

SOMERS, Wis. – The Creighton women placed sixth and the men seventh at the 2017 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships, held on Saturday on the Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Somers, Wis.

The women's finish was the program's best at any league meet since the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Junior Emily Martin continued a very successful season with an impressive 11^th place showing, finishing with a time of 20:57.6 in the women's 6K. Martin's clocking among 89 runners earned her Second Team All-BIG EAST honors, just the fourth runner in program history to earn All-Conference accolades. Only Courtney Sawle (also 11th in 2014) has finished in the top-12 of a league meet in the last 15 seasons, and Martin's clocking moved her up 13 spots from last year when she finished 24^th overall at the league championship.

Following Martin among Bluejays was fellow junior Adriana Kammerer in 27^th place, running a time of 21:38.9. The third Creighton finisher was Megan Paule with a time of 21:53.5 in 33^rd place. Paule beat her best previous 6K time this fall by over a minute. After Paule was 38^th place Maile Shigemasa, who ran a 22:05.8. Just a tenth of a second behind Shigemasa was fellow senior Grace Mimmack who ran a 22:05.9 which earned her 39^th place.

The women's team completed the competition with a team score of 139, narrowly behind both Marquette (132) and Xavier (136). Villanova won the team title with 39 points, snapping the two-year title reign of Providence by seven points. Providence's Catarina Rocha won the women's race with a time of 19:59.0, 13 seconds ahead of teammate Brianna Ilarda.

The first Creighton men's runner to cross the line in the 8K race was sophomore Chase Howard who ran a 26:15.1, earning him the 44^th spot in the race. After Howard was 56^th place senior Jacob Ohnstad, who ran a 26:36.8. Junior Spencer De Jong and senior Jake Landreth followed closely behind Ohnstad. De Jong finished in 59^th with a time of 26:39.0, while Landreth finished in 60^th with a time of 26:41.4. Sophomore Nicholas Monkemeyer closed CU's scorers in 68^th place after running a 27:03.5. There was a total of 85 runners in the men's race.

The men finished in seventh out of nine teams with a score of 241, one point ahead of eighth place Xavier who scored a 242. Georgetown won its third straight men's team title with 40 points, 14 ahead of runner-up Butler.. Hoya graduate student Jonathan Green won the men's race with a time of 24:27.6 to finish 4.9 seconds ahead of Villanova's Andrew Marston.

The Georgetown men's coaching staff, led by head coach Brandon Bonsey, was named BIG EAST Men's Coaching Staff of the Year. The Villanova women's staff, led by head coach Gina Procaccio, was named BIG EAST Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. The top 10 runners in each race were named First Team All-BIG EAST, while runners to place 11-20 earned Second Team All-BIG EAST acclaim.

Both the men's and women's teams will compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional race of November 10^th in Ames, Iowa.

Men's Individual Leaders
1.      Jonathan Green, Georgetown                     24:27.6
2.      Andrew Marston, Villanova                          24:32.7
3.      Casey Comber, Villanova                              24:40.6
4.      Reilly Bloomer, Georgetown                       24:50.8
5.      Barry Keane, Butler                                        24:52.5
6.      Matt Lumbar, Butler                                      24:55.4
7.      Nicholas Wareham, Georgetown               25:00.6
8.      Daniel Pederson, Marquette                        25:01.0
9.      Paul Power, Villanova                                    25:01.7
10.   Johnny Leverenz, Butler                                25:04.5

Men's Team Leaders
1.      Georgetown                      40
2.      Butler                                  54
3.      Villanova                            57
4.      Providence                         94
5.      Marquette                          129
6.      DePaul                                157
7.      Creighton                           241
8.      Xavier                                  242
9.      Seton Hall                           243

Women's Individual Leaders
1.      Catarina Rocha, Providence                         19:59.0
2.      Brianna Ilarda, Providence                           20:12.2
3.      Bella Burda, Villanova                                   20:19.4
4.      Millie Paladino, Providence                          20:27.9
5.      Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova                       20:38.7
6.      Lauren Ryan, Villanova                                  20:44.1
7.      Kaley Ciluffo, Villanova                                 20:49.7
8.      Madeline Britton, Xavier                               20:51.8
9.      Josette Norris, Georgetown                        20:52.6
10.   Abbey Wheeler, Providence                         20:53.7

Women's Team Leaders
1.      Villanova                            39
2.      Providence                         46
3.      Georgetown                      63
4.      Marquette                          132
5.      Xavier                                  136
6.      Creighton                           139
7.      Butler                                  186
8.      Seton Hall                           255
9.      DePaul                                273
10.   St. John's                            279

Martin Earns All-Conference To Lead Strong Showing At BIG EAST Championships

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Players Mentioned

Spencer De Jong

Nate Fedel

Ashlyn Glann

Chase Howard

Adriana Kammerer

Jake Landreth

Amy Leasure

Emily Martin

Ty Medd

Grace Mimmack

Jacob Ohnstad

Caroline Pass

Megan Paule

Maile Shigemasa