PISCATAWAY, N.J. (October 29, 2011) – The Rutgers men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up competition at the 2011 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29, at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, hosted by the University of Louisville. The men placed 11th in field of 14 teams, while the women finished 10th among 16 teams.

Villanova won both the men’s and women’s team titles with 43 and 54 points, respectively. The Scarlet Knight men completed the 8K race with 361 points, while the women recorded 322 points on the 6K course.

On the men’s side, sophomore Chris Banafato (Bridgewater, N.J.) placed 78th in a time of 26:05.6 to lead the Scarlet Knights. Freshman Chris DeFabio (Millington, N.J.) and freshman Casey Weiss (Newfoundland, N.J.) finished back-to-back in 85th and 86th, respectively. DeFabio ran a time of 26:22.0 with Weiss completing the race in 26:23.7. Rounding out the top-5 for Rutgers was sophomore Curtis Richburg (West Orange, N.J.), who finished 89th (26:29.4), followed by senior Ben Forrest (Jackson, N.J.) in 91st (26:33.1).

The women were led by Briana Deming (Webster, N.Y.) who placed 53rd in 22:15.0. Junior Anjelica Brinkofski (Somerset, N.J.) was the second Scarlet Knight runner to finish the course, running a time of 22:25.0 to take 67th. Sophomore Ashley Deckert (Newfield, N.J.) and freshman Allison Payenski (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) finished consecutively with Deckert placing 77th in 22:40.5, while Payenski was 78th in 22:42.8. Also scoring for RU was sophomore Rashmi Singh (Flemington, N.J.) who took 80th in 22:43.8.

Rutgers Individual Finishes

Men:

78th           Chris Banafato                       26:05.6

85th           Chris DeFabio                        26:22.0

86th           Casey Weiss                           26:23.7

89th           Curtis Richburg                      26:29.4

91st            Ben Forrest                            26:33.1

107th         Thomas Bragen                     27:21.5

113th         Brian Wells                              27:47.9

Women:

53rd           Briana Deming                       22:15.0

67th           Anjelica Brinkofski               22:25.0

77th           Ashley Deckert                     22:40.5

78th           Allison Payenski                    22:42.8

80th           Rashmi Singh                         22:43.8

92nd          Victoria Pontecorvo            23:02.6

108th         Felicia O’Donnell                  23:42.2

BIG EAST XC Championship Team Results

Men:

1. Villanova- 43

2. Georgetown- 94

3. Louisville- 96

4. Syracuse- 97

5. Providence- 116

6. Notre Dame- 119

7. Marquette- 201

8. Cincinnati- 218

9. DePaul- 273

10. Connecticut- 274

11. Rutgers- 361

12. USF- 388

13. Pittsburgh- 390

14. Seton Hall- 437

Women:

1. Villanova- 54

2. Providence- 63

3. Georgetown- 77

4. Syracuse- 92

    West Virginia- 92

6. Notre Dame- 136

7. Connecticut- 165

8. USF- 249

9. Marquette- 301

10. Rutgers- 322

11. Louisville- 340

12. Cincinnati- 342

13. St. John’s- 416

14. DePaul- 428

15. Seton Hall- 462

16. Pittsburgh- 476