November 1, 2002

BOSTON, Mass. - The Virginia Tech men's and women's cross country teams both came in seventh place at the BIG EAST Championships at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass., Friday afternoon.

The men tallied 227 points en route to their seventh-place finish. 16th-ranked Villanova took the victory in the men's race with 39 points, followed by 17th-ranked Providence (49) and No. 13 Georgetown (55). Defending BIG EAST champion Notre Dame placed fourth with 132 points, while Boston College (168) and West Virginia (183) took fifth and sixth place, respectively. The individual winner was Providence's Adam Sutton, with a time of 23:33.

Sophomore David Atkiss (Hatfield, Pa.), had the top performance for the Hokies, as he finished 25th with a time of 25:02. Also placing in the top 50 for Tech were sophomores Darrell Curtis (Carlisle, Pa.) and Michael Lawson (Foster, R.I.). Curtis came in 44th with a time of 25:45, while Lawson's time of 25:52 was good for 48th place.

In the women's race, eighth-ranked Notre Dame, with 69 points, squeezed by last year's BIG EAST champion, No. 5 Georgetown (70), to take the conference title. No. 22 Villanova (88 points), No. 14 Providence (89) and No. 30 Boston College (105) rounded out the top five teams, while West Virginia finished ahead of Virginia Tech (177) with 143 points.

The women had four runners place in the top 40, as Marlies Overbeeke (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) continued to lead the way for the Hokies. Overbeeke finished 26th with a time of 21:45. Sophomore Jessica Morris (Coatesville, Pa.) continued to have a strong season, running a time of 21:52 to take 30th place overall. Senior Stacey Vidt (Allison Park, Pa.) and redshirt junior Kim Milbourn (Fairfax, Va.) rounded out Tech's top four in 38th and 39th place, respectively. Lauren King of Notre Dame took top honors in the women's race, in a time of 20:23.

The Hokies will next travel to Greenville, N.C., for the NCAA Southeast Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 16.