Women's Cross Country Wins 8th National Title

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- As all five Villanova scorers crossed the finish line to earn All-American status, the Villanova women's cross country squad dominated the NCAA Championships and claimed the 2009 NCAA title. The Wildcats cruised to victory earning 86 team points, while Florida State, who was the runner-up, posted 133 points.

This is the eighth title for Villanova cross country and the school's 17th championship overall. It was the first title for head coach Gina Procaccio, who was an assistant coach in 1998, when the women's team last won a title.

"The girls ran phenomenal," Procaccio said. "It has been an amazing season and all seven ran so well today. We continued to execute every race and stayed in the front pack the whole time."

The Wildcats continued to dominate right out of the starting line as they had all season with all top five runners staying in the lead pack throughout the course. JuniorAmanda Marino crossed the finish line of the 6K first for the squad in sixth place clocking in at 20:02.4.

Classmate Sheila Reid powered through after faltering at the 4K mark with a cramp and clocked in at 20:16.3 for 13th place.

Sophomore Bogdana Mimic was the third Villanova runner as she finished in 20:26.6 and earned 22nd place, while junior Ali Smith was 24th and clocked in at 20:33.1.

Senior Nicole Schappert was the fifth scorer for the Wildcats and finished 26th in 20:38.1.

Marino, Reid, Mimic, Smith and Schappert each earned All-American honors.

Freshman Brooke Simpson ran the course in 21:01.5 and was 60th as senior Kaitlyn Tallman crossed the finish line in 21:16.6 and was 98th.

All five of the Villanova scorers crossed the finish line before the third through fifth runners of Florida State, helping the `Cats to realize they had claimed a title.

"I knew we had a lead out there," Procaccio said. "Around the 3K mark I realized that our runners were in front, but I didn't truly realize that we had won until the end as I counted our first five runners cross the finish line."