2025 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships Set for Friday

NEW YORK – On Friday, Oct. 31, the 2025 BIG EAST Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships presented by JEEP will take place at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb. The Championships are co-hosted by Creighton University and the Omaha Sports Commission, and will be the first time Creighton has hosted the conference cross country championships since the Missouri Valley Conference Championships were held at Pioneers Park in Lincoln in 2006.

The men's 8K race is set to begin at 11 a.m. At 11:50 a.m., the women's 6K race will start, followed by an awards presentation at 12:40 p.m. The event will stream live on ESPN+, with Justin Corrigan calling the action.

The Villanova men and Georgetown women and look to defend their conference crowns from a season ago. For the men, Villanova and Butler finished 1-2 in the tightly contested team standings, as both teams accounted for six of the top 10 finishers in the race. On the women's side, the Hoyas outlasted Providence, 42-43, taking home the team title in Leesburg, Va. Georgetown placed three runners in the top 10 en route to the victory.

Currently, two BIG EAST men's teams and two women's squads are among the top 30 on the 2025 national poll, released on Oct. 21. The current men's poll has Butler ranked No. 14 and Georgetown at No. 30. The women's poll features Georgetown at No. 10, followed by Villanova at No. 14.

Admission to the BIG EAST Championship is available for $20 per car, via the Omaha Sports Commission website. With purchase, the ticket allows for entrance to the cross country course and covers parking and the state park entrance fee. Tickets are per car (two-axle vehicles) and each person in the car will receive a wristband upon arrival at Mahoney State park to access the course. The event ticket with on-site parking is the only ticket option for the championship and spectators are required to purchase tickets in advance online before the championship.

Men's Preview:
For the men's race, Villanova and Butler each have captured three of the last six BIG EAST Cross Country championships. A season ago, the Wildcats narrowly took home the title, placing four runners among the top 10 of the race, finishing with 35 team points. Villanova will attempt to become the first back-to-back champion since Butler in 2020 and 2021.

Leading the way for the Wildcats this season has been the duo of Charlie Moore and CJ Sullivan. Moore placed seventh at the Paul Short Run, clocking 23:24.1 for the 8K course as Nova finished seventh as a team. Sullivan was 13th at Paul Short, six seconds back of his teammate, and was 18th at BIG EAST's a season ago. Villanova is ranked fifth in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Butler enters the 2025 BIG EAST Championship currently ranked No. 14 on the USTFCCCA national poll. The Bulldogs have won three of the last five men's Championships. Once again, William Zegarski has been one of Butler's top runners. The BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week on Oct. 22, Zegarski finished 14th at the Nuttycombe Invitational in a time of 23:36.1. He was third at last year's Championship.

Georgetown took third place last year and have won 10 BIG EAST Cross Country championships all-time. The Hoyas enter this week ranked No. 30 on the USTFCCCA national poll and are coming off a 17th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Birhanu Harriman - the BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week on Oct. 7 - was the Hoyas' top finisher twice this season, including a runner-up finish at the Paul Short Run.

Providence finished fourth last season. The Friars return Cormac Dixon, who finished 16th at the BIG EAST Championship a season ago. The sophomore from Dublin, Ireland was the BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week on Oct. 17 after leading the Friars at the Princeton Invitational. PC owns 15 BIG EAST team titles and 11 individual crowns and rank sixth in the Northeast region.

Xavier placed fifth at last year's BIG EAST Championship. The Musketeers have been led by Colin Burke this season. He was Xavier's top finisher at the Bradley Pink Classic, finishing 18th overall. Chris Lucas is X's top returning finisher from last year's Championship (34th place).

Creighton took sixth place last year. Last time out, the Bluejays won the team title at the Platte River Rumble - held at the site of this year's BIG EAST Championship. Owen Marett, Oliver Annus, and Eli Moore have led Creighton this season.

Mohamed Abdullahi has been DePaul's top runner in 2025, compiling personal best times in each of his last three races. Most recently, he finished fourth at the Bradley Pink Classic, clocking 23:55.07 for 8K, and was also fourth at the Joe Piane Invitational. The Blue Demons finished seventh at BIG EAST's a season ago.

Seton Hall captured its first-ever Metropolitan Championship on Oct. 11, led by the duo of Aakash Arumugam and Logan Brunozzi finishing second and third, respectively. Arumugam has been the Pirates' top finisher all season and was the BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week on Oct. 14. The Pirates were eighth a season ago at the BIG EAST Championship.

Marquette placed ninth at last year's BIG EAST Championship. Nick Parrell has been the Golden Eagles' top finisher on three occasions in 2025, finishing 12th overall at the Badger Classic in September.

Women's Preview:
Georgetown's pursuit of a sixth straight title would put the Hoyas in lofty company in BIG EAST cross country history. Only Villanova - which won six straight BIG EAST team titles from 1989-94 - has captured that many consecutive conference crowns. The Hoyas are currently ranked No. 10 on the most recent USTFCCCA national poll.

Individually, Georgetown's Melissa Riggins is the top finisher from a year ago at BIG EAST's when she was seventh in a time of 20:09.2. The grad student won the Paul Short Run in early October, earning BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week honors. She led the Hoyas to a sixth place finish as a team at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 17, placing 19th overall in the race. At the Nuttycombe, the quartet of Riggins, Almi Nerurkar, Barrett Justema, and Charlotte Tomkinson finished within 17 seconds of each other.

Providence was the team runner-up last year. Two Friars earned BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week honors this season - Gabby Schmidt (Sept. 9) and Niamh O'Mahony (Oct. 14). The Friars captured the New England Championship on Oct. 10, led by O'Mahony's first place finish, and are currently ranked fourth in the Northeast regional poll. O'Mahony was 18th at last year's BIG EAST championship. Schmidt took first place in the season opener at the Friar Invitational.

UConn finished third at the 2024 BIG EAST Championship. The Huskies are currently ranked sixth in the Northeast region and saw three runners - Chloe Trudel (20:22.8), Sascha Letica (20:25.8), and Malin Rahm (20:50.1) - earn personal best times at the 6K distance last time out at the Princeton Fall Classic. Newcomer Brooke Strauss - BIG EAST Female Athlete of the Week on Sept. 23 - led UConn at the Paul Short Run, finishing 24th overall.

Villanova - which finished fourth at the 2024 BIG EAST Championship - is currently ranked No. 14 on the USTFCCCA national poll. The Wildcats placed second as a team at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 17, led by the duo of Tilly O'Connor and Nikki Vanasse, finishing 15th and 19th, respectively. Margaret Carroll was the third Villanova runner to cross the line at BIG EAST's a season ago, finishing 19th.

Butler was fifth last year. Hannah Moore was the team's top finisher in two races, including the Rumble in the Fort in September where she finished second overall. Camille El Baghlouli and Mckenna Mazeski have also contributed for the Bulldogs in 2025.

DePaul will look to improve on its sixth place finish. The Blue Demons captured the Huskie Opener on Sept. 5 and were third at the National Catholic Championship. Sophomores Tessa Roe and Vivian Waller were DePaul's top finisher on two occasions.

Myla Toole has shined for Xavier in 2025. She was fourth in the women's Red 6K at the Bradley Pink Classic, running the fifth fastest time in program history at that distance. The Musketeers were seventh at BIG EAST's last year.

Creighton captured the team title at the Platte River Rumble, contested at Mahoney State Park. Taylor Rorick has been the top finisher for the Bluejays on three occasions this season, including a runner-up finish at the Briar Cliff XC Invite in South Dakota. Creighton was eighth last year at the BIG EAST.

Seton Hall finished as runners-up at the Metropolitan Championship, led by the duo of Caitlin Fahy and Honey Strosnider who finished second and third, respectively. The Pirates finished ninth at the 2024 BIG EAST championship.

Emma Coon was the first Marquette runner to cross the finish line in each of the team's four meets this season, including a third place finish at the Vic Godfrey Open to start the season. The Golden Eagles placed 10th last year.

St. John's took 11th place last year. This year, the Red Storm runners finished fourth at the Metropolitan Championship, led by Naiara Garcia's fifth place finish.

2025 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships Set for Friday

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Players Mentioned

Oliver Annus

Owen Marett

Eli Moore

Taylor Rorick