PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Following their outstanding weekend performances, DePaul junior Matthew Graham was named BIG EAST men’s cross country Athlete of the Week while Georgetown sophomore Emily Jones was named BIG EAST women’s cross country Athlete of the Week. Both runners took home individual titles against tough competition.
Graham continued his impressive string of success for DePaul, winning his seventh consecutive regular-season race dating back to last year. The junior won the individual title at the BIG EAST Preview on Sept. 11, a non-conference sponsored event that took place at Jamesville Beach County Park, the site of this year’s BIG EAST Championship. Graham finished the 6K race with a time of 17:59.6, taking first by an impressive 23 seconds over the second-place finisher. The Blue Demons finished second as a team, with host Syracuse coming in first. Other teams included Seton Hall, USF and Le Moyne.
Jones earned an important first-place finish for the Hoyas at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pa. The sophomore finished the 6K race with a time of 20:59.2, beating out teammate Renee Tomlin by two seconds. The victory sparked the entire Georgetown team, as the squad finished first in the meet over then-No. 7 Princeton and then-No. 24 Penn State. The Hoyas jumped from No. 11 to No. 7 in the national poll with the win.
The BIG EAST Championship will be held on Oct. 30 at Jamesville Beach Park in Jamesville, N.Y., hosted by Syracuse University.
