Oct. 31, 2003

The University of Notre Dame men's cross country team finished a solid second at the BIG EAST Championship on Friday afternoon, besting two higher ranked teams to compile 66 points. Georgetown (ranked 13th) won the team title with a dominating 29 points, while the 24th-ranked Irish finished just one point ahead of #11 Villanova with 67 points.

Sophomore Tim Moore and senior Todd Mobley ran together to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, to key the Notre Dame team effort. Mobley earned his second all-BIG EAST honor (2001), along with Moore, who has now earned an all-conference certificate in the last two seasons.

Sophomore Kaleb Van Ort continued his impressive season, earning all-BIG EAST honors for the first time in his career by finishing 12th. The three all-BIG EAST efforts by the men's team is the most since four runners finished in the top 15 in 2001.

The championship effort by the Irish men was preceded by a first-place finish by the Notre Dame women's team. The first-second combination marks the top combined effort by the Notre Dame cross country program since it joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995.

BIG EAST Championship Men's Team Results

1. Georgetown, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10 = 29

2. Notre Dame, 6, 7, 12, 20, 21 = 66

3. Villanova, 1, 13, 14, 17, 22 = 67

4. Providence, 4, 11, 18, 19, 23, = 75

5. Connecticut, 25, 32, 38, 39, 42 = 176

6. Boston College, 27, 37, 40, 41, 46 = 191

7. Syracuse, 8, 44, 45, 53, 63 = 213

8. Pittsburgh, 31, 48, 54, 55, 59 = 247

9. Virginia Tech, 29, 43, 50, 62, 66 = 250

10. Miami, 35, 51, 58, 60, 64 = 268

11. Rutgers, 34, 47, 52, 68, 75 = 276

12. Seton Hall, 56, 57, 65, 80, 81 = 339

Notre Dame Individual Finishes

6. Tim Moore, 24:45

7. Todd Mobley, 24:47

12. Kaleb Van Ort, 24:59

20. Sean O'Donnnell, 25:26

21. Kurt Benninger, 25:29

24. A.J. Andrassy, 25:40

26. David Alber, 25:44

Ryan Johnson, 26:02

Eric Morrison, 26:22