Martin Ready For NCAA Cross Country Meet

OMAHA, Neb. – Junior Emily Martin heads to Louisville, Ky., this Saturday when she becomes Creighton's first cross country student-athlete to compete in the NCAA Championships.

Martin finished eighth among 225 runners at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 10th, tying the school record in the 6K with a time of 20:22.8. In six races this fall, she's won twice, finished second once, and also has eighth, 11th and 41st place finishes to her credit. The top 40 runners in Saturday's race will earn All-America status.

The BIG EAST Conference will be represented by two women's teams in addition to three individual competitors. A BIG EAST team has won the women's NCAA title in four of the last eight years.

The Providence and Villanova women's teams qualified at their respective NCAA Regionals last weekend. Providence won the NCAA Northeast Region title for the third straight year to earn an automatic bid to the nationals. Villanova qualified by taking second place in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

For the Friars, Catarina Rocha, the 2017 BIG EAST Individual Champion, was the top finisher. She placed fourth at the Regionals with a time of 21:37.2. Brianna Ilarda, who was the runner-up to Rocha at the BIG EAST meet, was sixth at 21:47.9.

For the Wildcats, Bella Burda won the Mid-Atlantic Regional race with a time of 20:01.5. She became the ninth Villanova regional champion since the current NCAA Regional format began. Villanova will be making a team appearance in the NCAAs for the ninth time in the past 10 years. The Wildcats have won a record nine national titles.

Xavier senior Madeline Britton joined Martin as an individual qualifier. Britton placed 12th at the Great Lakes Regional with a time of 20:53.

Georgetown qualified a runner for the men's and women's races. Jonathan Green, a graduate student, is going to the NCAAs as an individual after winning the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region. Green's time for the 10K was 30:28.3. He was the individual winner at the BIG EAST Championship a couple of weeks earlier. Hoya freshman Martha MacDonald made it to the NCAAs by placing ninth overall in a time of 20:18.4.

In the USTFCCCA national polls of Nov. 13, the Providence women were ranked ninth with the Villanova women slotted at 13th.

Saturday's women's race has been moved to an 8 a.m. Central start due to weather forecastse calling for a strong system to move through some time during the day on Saturday. High winds, along with potential rain, and an outside chance of lightning are possible.

The meet can be watched at https://www.flotrack.org/live/3138-di-ncaa-xc-championships/signup for a fee.

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Emily Martin