WXC Surges into BIG EAST Championship
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
BIG EAST Digital Network on FOX Sports Go
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - It has arrived.
For nearly 150 BIG EAST competitors who call various cities from New Jersey to Nebraska home; all the hours of training and miles accumulated have led to the same destination -the Northview Church Cross Country Course in Carmel, Indiana.
On Friday morning, the top cross country runners in the league will toe the same line and vie for the right to be called conference champion.
Though the conditions in the nation's heartland figure to be similar to those that pervaded when Providence hoisted the team championship last fall in Wisconsin, there is a different air surrounding members of the Seton Hall women's cross country team that will represent the blue & white against the best the league has to offer.
The 2014 season has been a reformative one, one of marked improvement, significant milestones and most importantly, unmistakable progress.
At the forefront of those forward strides, both figuratively and literally, has been standout freshman Christiana Rutkowski (Middletown, N.J.). The local product has thrived in her first collegiate campaign, delivering her second individual victory of the season when The Hall last competed at the 6K Leopard Invitational on October 18.
Prior to Rutkowski's first-place finish at the 5K ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic in September, no Pirate had placed atop a competitive field in the years since the program transitioned exclusively to cross country. The newcomer enters her first conference championship having led SHU in every meet this year with a top-six overall finish in each but is far from the only Pirate to watch on Friday.
Senior Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) has been a torchbearer for the women's program throughout a decorated career, excelling on the course as well as in the classroom. Migton has placed second for The Hall in four of her five appearances this season and has now scored in over 95 percent of the team's meets since stepping on campus in 2011.
No stranger to the big stage, Migton is the squad's top returning performer from the 2013 championship, placing 53rd overall for a Seton Hall squad that finished the day in ninth place. As she often has throughout her brief career, sophomore Desyre Blackburn (Aloha, Ore.) ranked third for the Pirates in her BIG EAST debut and has gone on to extend her scoring streak to 15 consecutive outings.
Junior Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) has provided yet another consistent presence for the Seton Hall harriers, finishing among the top-five on the team in all five meets she has been featured in. The
Reading native currently owns the fourth-fastest 6K time on the team this season, a 24:32.73 effort that was registered at the Delaware Invitational.
Rutkowski holds the top 6K mark at 22:58.40 while Migton ranks second with a season-best of 23:51.65 - both times that were recorded just under two weeks ago at the Leopard Invite. Blackburn stands fifth on the squad, just ahead of freshman Bailey Seach (Winston Salem, N.C.) who clocked in at 25:31.09 in Delaware.
Seach has posted four scoring times of her own and rounded out a group of five Pirates in the top-10 to help the squad place first at the Hofstra/St. John's Fall Festival, besting a field that included BIG EAST rivals in the Red Storm.
Another newcomer in Emily Curran (Wakefield, Mass.) is coming off the first scoring time of what could be many for the Pirates as she has consistently been among the squad's top performers through six meets.
Reigning BIG EAST and NCAA Champions enter the meet with the hardware but are not one of two nationally ranked teams in the field. Those distinctions belong to Georgetown, the #2 squad in the country after racing to victory at the Pre-Nationals meet, and #24 Villanova who claimed first t the Princeton Invitational last time out.
Providence junior Sarah Collins is the top returning finisher from last year's meet having taken third overall with a time of 19:58 but the Friars, Georgetown and Butler all bring back at least two runners who finished in the top-20 a year ago.
The women's 6K will begin at 11:00 a.m. with the Bulldogs serving as hosts. For the first-time ever the championships will be broadcast live on the all-new BIG EAST Digital Network through FOX Sports Go. Follow @SHUPiratesXC on Twitter for live updates throughout the morning as well.
