Oct. 27, 2007

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Led by four All-BIG EAST performances, the University of Louisville men's cross country program continued its climb among the nation's top programs by winning the 2007 BIG EAST Championships Saturday at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. The BIG EAST title is the first cross country conference championship in school history for U of L, coming five months after the Cards won their first ever conference track and field title at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The Cards, ranked 19th in this week's USTFCCCA Top 30 poll, scored 55 points to edge No. 16 ranked Georgetown in second with 60 points. No. 23 Providence was third with 74 points followed by No. 13 Notre Dame in fourth with 93 points and Syracuse in fifth with 103 points at the event hosted by U of L and the Greater Louisville Sports Commission.

"This is a special day for Louisville cross country and I'm so happy for the guys on our team and all of our coaches," said Cards' head coach Mann. "The BIG EAST Conference is so competitive and so strong, and for our program to be where it's at right now says a lot about the hard work and the commitment from everyone. I have all the confidence in the world in our athletes and our coaches and we put it all together today."

Leading the way for the Cards was senior Wesley Korir's runner-up finish after the native of Eldoret, Kenya, covered the 8-kilometer course in a time of 23 minutes, 18.60 seconds for his best career finish at the BIG EAST meet.

"It feels really good to win this title," said Korir, who earned NCAA All-America honors in the 5,000-meter run at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June and is now a three-time All-BIG EAST performer in cross country. "Before the race, we knew Georgetown was going to be very tough and I don't think a lot of people thought we could win this. I told our guys before we ever started to leave everything out there and it would all work out for us. We did that and God blessed us with a great day."

Joining Korir with All-BIG EAST performances on Saturday were senior Soimo Kiplagat from Kapsabet, Kenya, with a sixth-place finish and a time of 23:39.45, junior Cory Thorne from Portsmouth, N.H., in eighth with a time of 24:00.70 and sophomore Michael Eaton from Bowling Green, Ky., in 10th with a time of 24:05.15. Closing the scoring for the Cards was sophomore Scott McClain in 29th with a time of 24:41.70. Villanova senior and Louisville native Bobby Curtis won the individual title with a course record time of 23:08.85.

"To have four guys in the top 10 in this conference shows the team depth we have and that we're not built on having one individual runner," Mann said. "This a great confidence builder for our team as we move forward from here to the NCAA Regional in two weeks and the NCAA Championships on Nov. 19."

Prior to Saturday's victory, the Cards' best ever finish at a conference cross country championship event was second at the 1987 Metro Conference Championships. Prior to last season, the Cards had never won a conference title in track & field or cross country, but U of L has now won the last two BIG EAST titles taking Mann's career total to 60 team conference championships over his 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

On the women's side, the Cards had All-BIG EAST performances from sophomore Tarah McKay and freshman Emily Borsare to earn eight-place overall. U of L finished eighth overall with 175 points, while No. 19 ranked West Virginia won the team title with 77 points. No. 22 Providence was second with 87 points followed by No. 11 Georgetown in third with 92 points, Syracuse in fourth with 119 points and Villanova in fifth with 125 points.

For the Cards, McKay, a native of St. Clements, Ont., covered the 6-kilometer course in a time of 21:00.70 to finish ninth overall and her All-BIG EAST honors for the second straight year, while Borsare, from Peachtree City, Ga., was 15th overall with a time of 21:14.00.

Also scoring for the Cards on Saturday was freshman Lotte Jacobs in 50th at 22:08.30, senior Taryn Gibson in 51st at 22:09.70 and senior Sarah Weir in 54th at 22:18.00. Georgetown junior Melissa Grelli won the individual title with a course record time of 20:05.55.

"I really felt like we were going to finish higher on the women's side and improve upon last year's eighth-place finish," Mann said. "I'm proud of Tarah and Emily and I really think this is a good team. We have to get our ladies to believe what our coaches already know and if we do that, then we'll reach our goals."

Up next, U of L will again team with the Greater Louisville Sports Commission to host the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 10 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. The event, being held in Louisville for the second straight year, will begin at 11 a.m. ET with the men's 10-kilometer race followed by the women's 6-kilometer race at 12:15 p.m.

BIG EAST Championships
Louisville, Ky. - Oct. 27, 2007
Men: 8 km / Women: 6 km


MENS RACE RESULTS (14 Teams)
1.	No. 19 LOUISVILLE	55 points
2.	No. 16 Georgetown	60 points
3.	No. 23 Providence	74 points
4.	No. 13 Notre Dame	93 points
5.	Syracuse		103 points
6.	Villanova		124 points
7.	Marquette		190 points
8.	Cincinnati		237 points
9.	Connecticut		240 points
10.	Rutgers			319 points
11.	Pittsburgh		335 points
12.	DePaul			353 points
13.	Seton Hall		382 points
14.	USF			460 points


U of L Men's Individual Finishers (Field of 116)
2.	Wesley Korir	23:18.60
6.	Soimo Kiplagat	23:39.45
8.	Cory Thorne	24:00.70
10.	Michael Eaton	24:05.15
29.	Scott McClain	24:41.70
48.	Matt Smith	25:16.05
58.	Thad Schroeder	25:24.60
73.	Ken Prater	26:06.10
109.	Abraham Businei	27:56.15


WOMENS WHITE RACE RESULTS (16 Teams)
1.	No. 19 West Virginia	77 points
2.	No. 22 Providence	87 points
3.	No. 11 Georgetown	92 points
4.	Syracuse		119 points
5.	Villanova		125 points
6.	Notre Dame		142 points
7.	Marquette		166 points
8.	LOUISVILLE		175 points
9.	Cincinnati		223 points
10.	DePaul			289 points
11.	Pittsburgh		321 points
12.	Rutgers			326 points
13.	Connecticut		376 points
14.	USF			428 points
15.	St. John's		453 points
16.	Seton Hall		459 points


U of L Women's Individual Finishers (Field of 132)
9.	Tarah McKay	21:00.70
15.	Emily Borsare	21:14.00
50.	Lotte Jacobs	22:08.30
51.	Taryn Gibson	22:09.70
54.	Sarah Weir	22:18.00
65.	Kelsey Page	22:33.35
79.	Kat Alcorn	22:54.70
80.	Kortni Dukes	22:55.90
105.	Kathryn Long	24:07.60