DePaul University
BIG EAST Cross Country Championships
Cross Country Seniors Lead at BIG EAST Championships
10/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | CROSS COUNTRY
Full Results
BRONX, N.Y. - Seniors Courtney Tedeschi and Alex Campanella led their respective DePaul cross country teams at the BIG EAST Championships on Friday, Oct. 28 by each earning top-30 finishes for the Blue Demons.
For the team standings, the DePaul men placed sixth with 196 points, beating Creighton (200), Xavier (215) and Seton Hall (266). Friday's result is the best finish for the men in a conference meet since DePaul joined the BIG EAST in 2005 and the best since 2003 when the Blue Demons took fourth at the Conference USA Championship. On the women's side, the Blue Demons took ninth with 235 points, besting Seton Hall (296).
In the women's 6k race, Tedeschi was the early frontrunner for the Blue Demons by holding onto 30th at the 3.1k mark. The senior continued to move up the leaderboard and was first across the line for DePaul at 22:34.0 in 27th, a season-best 6k time. Fellow senior Paige Skorseth was the second DePaul runner to finish with a time of 23:30.2 in 48th place.
"We didn't have our best day as a team, but walked away with many individual small victories," said assistant coach Derrick Peterson. "Today will help us in future races, but I am really excited for this team and its future. These ladies have battled injury, a new training regiment and still came and competed great today."
Freshman Batya Beard just missed a top-50 finish in her first BIG EAST Championship of her collegiate career. Beard completed the 6k course in 23:37.2 and claimed 51st for DePaul. Lauren Sharp used a late kick to move up four positions down the stretch to take 57th overall with a time of 24:02.6.
Jessica Harris rounded out DePaul's top five scorers by finishing in 65th at 24:33.0. Freshman Courtney Pickering moved up two spots in the final 1k to take 70th with a time of 24:59.9 to complete DePaul's day in the women's race.
In a homecoming for New York native Campanella, the senior led the Blue Demon men in 29th place. Campanella finished with a time of 25:53.8, climbing eight positions in the second half of the race. Salomon Wright was second across the finish line for the Blue Demons at 26:24.5 in 43rd. Wright passed 10 runners between the 2.1k and 4.1k markers.
"I'm excited for our highest finish in cross country history while in the BIG EAST," stated Peterson. "The guys ran tough today and had a big finish on a very challenging course. We talk about making a choice to be great weekly and today the guys made a choice to come back to Chicago better than we left and better than last year's finish."
Jake Pecorin and Jeremy Lozano joined Wright in running together the whole race and used a strong push midway through the course to crack the top 50. Pecorin was the third DePaul runner to finish with a time of 26:27.4 and 46th overall, while Lozano was right behind in 48th at 26:30.3.
Chris Korabik, who was battling an injury all week, suited up and competed despite not being 100 percent. He chose to run with the back of the pack and encouraged the Blue Demons to keep moving up throughout the race. Korabik's selfless act aided the final finish as he gave up his individual result for the betterment of the team. Noah Deck took a top-five team finish by placing 60th at 26:54.2 in his first BIG EAST Championship. Korabik in 67th at 27:13.0 and James Ryan in 69th at 27:17.1 closed the day for the Blue Demon men.
The cross country season for DePaul comes down to the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Friday, Nov. 11 where the Blue Demons have a chance to qualify for the NCAA National Championships. Races at the regional are set to begin at 11 a.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
