BRONX, N.Y. — (October 26, 2012) – The Rutgers men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up competition at the 2012 BIG EAST Championships today at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. The Scarlet Knights finished 11th out of 14 teams on the men’s side, and 10th out of 15 teams in the women’s meet. Syracuse won the men’s competition with four runners placing in the top-10, while the Georgetown women’s squad took home the BIG EAST Championship.

Junior Chris Banafato (Bridgewater, N.J.) and sophomore Chris Defabio (Millington, N.J.) led the Scarlet Knights in the men’s meet with 50th and 57th-place finishes, respectively. Banafato completed the eight-kilometer course in 26:12.98, while Defabio clocked in at 26:41.86. Sophomore Anthony Horton (Moorestown, N.J.) rounded out the top-three for RU, earning 61st place in a time of 26:49.13.

Junior Briana Demming (Webster, N.Y.) paced the women’s squad, earning 52nd place in the six-kilometer race with a time of 23:11.08. Sophomores Allison Payenski (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) and Felicia O’Donnell (Franklinville, N.J.) were the next RU runners to place, finishing in 56th and 58th place, respectively.

Rutgers Individual Finishes

Men:

50. Chris Banafato      26:12.98

57. Chris Defabio        26:41.86

61. Anthony Horten    26:49.13

68. Daniel Lee             27:10.49

71. Jaimin Vekaria      27:14.43

84. Curtis Richburg     28:14.68

86. Casey Weiss          28:16.94

--   Steve Burkholder 28:52.99

--   Thomas Bragen      29:02.71

Women:

52. Brianna Deming    23:11.08

56. Allison Payenski   23:19.96

58. Felicia O'Donnell  23:24.17

67. Rashmi Singh        23:44.23

69. Jennifer Spitzer     23:55.24

71. Paige Senatore      23:58.28

73. Lindsay Bertulis    24:10.44

BIG EAST XC Championship Team Results

Men:

1. Syracuse – 37
2. Georgetown – 67
3. Notre Dame – 70
4. Providence – 109
5. Villanova – 114
6. Louisville – 129
7. Cincinnati – 216
8. Marquette – 240
9. Connecticut – 278
10. DePaul – 303
11. Rutgers – 307
12. Pittsburgh – 321
13. South Florida – 418
14. Seton Hall – 435

Women:

1. Georgetown – 58
2. Connecticut – 68
3. Providence – 80
4. Villanova – 83
5. Notre Dame – 90
6. Syracuse – 117
7. Marquette – 222
8. Cincinnati – 296
9. Pittsburgh – 297
10. Rutgers – 302
11. South Florida – 330
12. St. John’s 391
13. Louisville – 398
14. Seton Hall – 407
15. DePaul – 418

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