MXC Looks to Challenge at BIG EAST Meet
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
BIG EAST Digital Network on FOX Sports Go
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Running is a sport that simultaneously necessitates resiliency and builds toughness.
No two competitors embody those two ideals more wholly than Seton Hall seniors John Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) and Kevin Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) who have turned in by far the most successful campaigns of their injury-abbreviated careers in 2014, consistently ranking near the top of the lineup for a Seton Hall men's cross country squad that has continued to improve throughout the fall.
John and Kevin Walsh have played an integral role in helping the Pirates establish themselves as the class of the conference academically with two-straight BIG EAST Team Excellence Awards sitting on the mantle. Now, after struggling to reach not the finish, but the start line in their first three years; the Walsh twins have helped pace a team that has steadily climbed team leaderboards to this point in the 2014 season.
Entering Friday's 8K BIG EAST Championship at the Northview Church Cross Country Course in Carmel, Indiana, John and Kevin Walsh have combined to lead The Hall in four out of six meets with the latter posting three first-place team finishes and the former coming off his own squad-leading performance when SHU last competed at the Leopard Invitational on October 18.
The two veterans are part of a Pirates contingent that will join the rest of the league in attempting to dethrone defending team champions Villanova, a nationally-ranked squad that boast the reigning individual conference champion in sophomore Patrick Tiernan as well.
Sitting at #7 in the country, the Wildcats are at the head of a trio of teams in the field that are ranked among the top-25 in Division I, a group that also includes #16 Georgetown and #17 Providence.
The Pirates are positioned well to improve upon last season's ninth-place showing however, joining Villanova and Creighton as the only men's teams to return their top-three performers from the 2013 championship.
Sophomore Victor Ricci (Narragansett, R.I.) placed 39th overall with an 8K time of 26:34 to lead The Hall a season ago, finishing just ahead of classmate Cameron Quisenberry (Owensboro, Ky.) and junior Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) in the team rankings.
Ricci has followed a stellar freshman campaign by scoring twice this fall, including a team-best 11th-place effort at the ASICS Embry Riddle Classic. A team leader who factored into team scoring eight times as a sophomore, Flannery has found his stride of late and has completed the last three races as one of SHU's top-five performers.
While the team boasts a cast of experienced runners accustomed to contributing on the biggest of stages, the Pirates' prolonged success this fall can be attributed to the immediate impact of the blue & white's talented newcomers.
Freshman Jake Simon (Freehold, N.J.) recorded a team-leading time at the Delaware Invitational; a 27:16.8 effort that doubles as the team's top 8K mark thus far in the fall. Simon's three top-five team finishes stand just behind classmates Bryant Cordova (Elizabeth, N.J.) and Jeff Larson (Yucca Valley, Calif.) who each added their fourth scoring time of the year at the Leopard Invite.
Larson posted the fourth-fastest 8K time by a Pirate heading into the conference championship, trailing only Simon and the Walsh brothers. Sophomore Sean Kip (Union, N.J.) accounted for the fifth-best mark, clocking in at 28:00.48 to round out the team's scoring group at Delaware.
To repeat as champions, Villanova will need to hold off a loaded field that includes the Pirates, Hoyas, a Providence program seeking its 16th league title on the men's side and a Butler squad that will be at home after placing third in their BIG EAST Championship debut last November.
The men's 8K will begin at 11:50 a.m. with the Bulldogs serving as hosts. For the first-time ever the championships will be broadcast live on the all-new BIG EAST Digital Network through FOX Sports Go. Follow @SHUPiratesXC on Twitter for live updates throughout the morning as well.
