Martin Fagan Captures BIG EAST Individual Cross Country Title

Oct. 28, 2005

BRONX, N.Y. - The Providence College men's cross country team competed at the 2005 BIG EAST Cross Country Championship on Friday, October 28 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. PC senior Martin Fagan (Mullingar, Ireland) won the men's individual title as he crossed the finish line in a time of 23:48. With his victory, Fagan broke a 27-year old course record. As a team, the Friars finished third with 68 points. Notre Dame won the team title with 31 points, while Georgetown finished second overall (51 points).

"It was a grand race," Fagan said. "I knew I had to run hard to break the guys early and it worked. At two miles I knew I was in good shape."

"Martin's run was unreal," Providence Head Coach Ray Treacy said. "We knew he was in great shape, but we did not think he would set a course record at one of the most storied courses in the country."

On the women's side, PC senior Fiona Crombie won the women's BIG EAST individual title. Together, Fagan and Crombie, become the third Providence duo to win both the men's and women's BIG EAST individual titles in the same year. In 1998, Ben Noad and Sarah Dupre captured the individual cross country titles at the BIG EAST Championship, while Mark Carroll and Marie McMahon were the first Providence runners to win the event in the same year during the 1995 championship.

The Friars finished third at the BIG EAST Championship for the second-consecutive season. In the 27-year history of the event, Providence has finished among the top three in the team standings 22 times, including top-three team finishes in eight of the last 10 BIG EAST Championships. The Friars have captured 14 BIG EAST Cross Country titles overall.

Sophomore Ahmed Haji (West Hartford, Conn.) was the second Friar runner to cross the finish line as he took sixth place with a time of 24:30. Fellow sophomore Max Smith (Dunedin, New Zealand) finished 14th in a time of 25:00. Fagan, Haji and Smith each earned All-BIG EAST honors by finishing among the top-15 at the event.

Also scoring for Providence was junior Nick Weidman (Sudbury, Mass.) and senior Joe Dionne (Oshawa, Ontario). Weidman placed 21st in a time of 25:17, while Dionne crossed the line in 26th place with a time of 25:31. Senior Liam Reale (Hospital, Ireland) finished 42nd (26:08) and junior Matthew Kinback (Shrewsbury, Mass.) placed 60th (26:57).

"We came up against two really great top-10 teams today, and I'm happy with our third-place finish," Treacy said. "We were a solid third and our top five got around like we hoped they could. We are looking for improvement over the next two weeks prior to the NCAA Regional."

2005 BIG EAST Men's Cross Country ChampionshipTeam Results - Providence (3rd of 14 teams)
1.   Notre Dame  312.  Georgetown  513.  Providence  684.  Louisville  1125.  Villanova            1576.  Cincinati            1947.  Pittsburgh  2038.  Marquette            2389.  Connecticut 26410. Syracuse             28111. Rutgers          29012. South Florida   31513. Seton Hall  34114. DePaul           396
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2005 BIG EAST Men's Cross Country ChampionshipIndividual Results - Top 10 Finishers/Providence Finishers
1.   Martin Fagan    Providence  23:482.  Curt Benninger  Notre Dame  24:093.  Matt Debole Georgetown  24:134.  Fleet Hower Georgetown  24:205.  Tim Moore            Notre Dame 24:246.  Ahmed Haji    Providence  24:307.  Sean O'Donnell  Notre Dame  24:348.  Kaleb Van Ort   Notre Dame  24:359.  Patrick Smyth   Notre Dame  24:4210. Corey Thorne    Louisville  24:49
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14.  Max Smith           Providence 25:0021. Nick Weidman    Providence  25:1726. Joe Dionne    Providence  25:3142. Liam Reale    Providence  26:0860. Matt Kinback    Providence  26:57

Martin Fagan Captures BIG EAST Individual Cross Country Title

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Players Mentioned

Martin Fagan

Ahmed Haji

Matthew Kinback

Max Smith

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Providence College Athletics

Martin Fagan Captures BIG EAST Individual Cross Country Title

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Players Mentioned

Martin Fagan

Ahmed Haji

Matthew Kinback

Max Smith

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