SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse director of athletics Dr. Daryl Gross and members of the Syracuse Athletics Department celebrated the 2009 BIG EAST men's cross country and 2009 BIG EAST regular season field hockey championship teams on Wednesday afternoon in Manley Field House. It is the first championship win for any SU cross country team, while it is the sixth conference championship victory for the field hockey program.

"This is a really exciting day for us all," Gross said. "We're so proud of our coaches and their staff and student-athletes who have kicked the season off. When we talk about cross country and what Coach Fox has done with this program, when we got here, a lot of us know we were about 300 in the country. Now we're the best conference in cross country and the men won the conference championship for the first time. The women in this prestigious conference finished their highest in the history of the program, and it's all happened in such a short time."

The men captured the program's first BIG EAST Championship after upsetting Georgetown, the defending BIG EAST champion, in a narrow six-point victory. The Orange improved on last season's fifth-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship. The previous best finish was third in 1980. On the women's side, the Orange placed third at the championship, which was two spots higher than last year's competiton.

"It's been a great run for us, a great four years," said cross country head coach Chris Fox. "We were given everything that we needed to be good. It was on us after we initially got here. I think anybody who is coaching here knows that you're given everything you need to succeed, it's just a matter of working hard and obviously, getting lucky. We're on the precipitous of being top 10 in the country and being BIG EAST Champions a year before we thought we could do it."

The fifth-ranked field hockey team secured its sixth BIG EAST Regular Season Championship with a 6-1 victory against Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 31. The 2009 Orange, 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the league, is only the second SU squad to finish the conference schedule undefeated. SU has won back-to-back championships for the first time since it won three consecutive in 1993, '94, and '95.

"We had a lot of change in personnel and this team, with the staff, has been able to just keep getting up and finding a way," said head coach Ange Bradley. "We truly are an example of ordinary. We don't have any teams on national teams or national squads, they are just warriors and they hate to lose. They're an incredibly mentally tough team and we've had a ton of adversity and six overtimes. This team is exciting, they keep us going and keep getting back up no matter what blow has been delivered to them. That's a great attribute to my coaching staff Guy (Cathro) and Lynn (Farquhar), and mostly to my kids. They believe in a dream and they're warriors. It's fun to watch ordinary become extraordinary."

Syracuse volleyball is on the cusp of earning a spot in the BIG EAST Championship. The Orange will host a pair of conference opponents this weekend when it plays DePaul on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. and Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. The BIG EAST Championship will be held Nov. 20-22 in Louisville, Ky.