The Butler cross country team is set to compete at the BIG EAST Cross Country Championships Presented by JEEP on Friday at Morven Park in Leesburg, Va.

The women's 6K will toe the line at 10 a.m. ET followed by the men's 8K at 10:50 a.m. The awards ceremony starts at approximately 11:40 a.m.

Both championship races will be streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network available on FloSports, presented by Invesco QQQ.

General admission to all sessions will be included with parking and available for $10 (plus processing fee) per car. Spectators will have the option to purchase parking passes online before the championship or directly on the site. A link for purchasing is available HERE.

Women's Preview
The Bulldog women head into the race with a solid mix of experienced veterans with some newcomers.

Elsa Rusthoven and Wiktoria Klebowska are the top returners after earning All-BIG EAST honors in 13th and 17th place at last year's BIG EAST Championship. The team would finish fifth as a team for the second consecutive season.

Rusthoven represented the Bulldogs as an individual in the NCAA Championships. Klebowska has also found success early this season most recently at the Bradley "Pink" Classic where she placed fourth and scratched 16 seconds off her personal best.

Hannah Moore has also stepped into a larger role since joining the team in the fall. The true freshman has been the second Bulldog across the line in three of the four meets this season.

The trio will be joined by a field of teammates including Camille El Baghlouli, Kylie Cline, Ashley Learn, Ashlyn Minton, Alejandra Sierazy, and Renate Toldo.

Georgetown (No. 9) Providence (No. 12) and Villanova (No. 27) all enter as teams ranked in the most recent USTFCCCA national poll.

Men's Preview
The Butler men's team will prepare to defend their conference title after a dominant performance in last year's race with five of the team's scorers in the top 14.

As a team, Butler enters as the No. 28-ranked program in the country according to the latest USTFCCCA national poll. Villanova (No. 17) and Georgetown (No. 21) also join the Bulldogs atop the rankings.

The Bulldogs will reload with three of the five scorers from the 2023 title team making their return to the conference meet. Florian Le Pallec and William Zegarski are the top returners after leading the way in third and fourth, respectively, in 2023. 

Zegarski picked up right where he left off earning two top-15 finishes at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational and Wisconsin Pre-Nationals en route to earning his first career BIG EAST Male Athlete of the Week honors.

Le Pallec will also look to build off of his success earlier this year after earning a top-25 finish at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational.

Rounding out the former All-BIG EAST honorees is Jesse Hamlin, who has yet to compete in a race this season. Hamlin is set to make his first appearance since receiving All-American honors in the 5,000 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring.

Zegarski, Le Pallec, and Hamlin will be joined by head coach Matt Roe's lineup of Austin Gabay, David Slapak, Luke Henseler, Sean Byrnes, Martin Kovacech, Joe Barrett and Asher Propst.

Butler has won three of the last four BIG EAST championships, winning in 2023, 2021 and the spring of 2021 as the scheduled 2020 championship was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Villanova won the conference title in 2022.

COACH MATT ROE ON THE TEAM
"We are excited about the championship on Friday," coach Roe said. "Both teams are preparing well and are gaining momentum. They are ready to go."