NEW ORLEANS, La. – Villanova senior Sheila Reid was named National Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year while head coach Gina Procaccio earned National Women’s Coach of the Year as announced by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday. The Wildcats won their second straight national title and the ninth in program history in Terre Haute, Ind., on Monday thanks to the efforts of Reid and Procaccio. It was the seventh time in Villanova women’s cross country history that the team has simultaneously won the individual and team national titles.
Reid, a senior from Newmarket, Ontario, won her first NCAA national cross country crown on Monday. With a 20:06.9 run in the 6k race, she topped Georgetown’s Emily Infeld by just over two seconds in the closest finish in NCAA women’s Division I history. Reid is also the first since Villanova’s Jennifer Rhines to win the individual NCAA title while leading the team to victory. Reid won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional by 16 seconds to capture a second-consecutive region title. She was also this year’s BIG EAST individual champion and a winner at the Penn State National.
Procaccio coached Villanova to its second-straight NCAA team title and record-breaking ninth overall crown on Monday. Scoring two runners in the race’s top ten, the Wildcats were able to take a 120-154 decision over runners-up Florida State for the national team title. The back-to-back titles are Villanova’s first since winning six-straight from 1989 to 1994.
In addition, Procaccio’s team won their second-straight NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region crown with a hard-fought, 29-40 victory over Georgetown earlier in the fall. Villanova finished the season undefeated and, along with its third-straight BIG EAST crown, won titles at the Penn State National and Notre Dame Invitational. Procaccio is in her 11th season at Villanova.
