SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Winning conference championships is more than just a mission for Syracuse University. For two Orange athletics teams, winning BIG EAST titles has become a tradition. Syracuse director of athletics Dr. Daryl Gross and members of the Syracuse Athletics Department celebrated the 2010 BIG EAST men's cross country and 2010 BIG EAST field hockey championship teams on Tuesday morning in Manley Field House. 

"Today we want to celebrate a couple of teams that have become repeaters and established a culture of championship play," said director of athletics Dr. Daryl Gross. "I feel as if Ange (Bradley) and Chris (Fox) just got here and in such a short period of time they have been really wonderful in establishing some unbelievable championship cultures."

It is the second consecutive championship for the men's cross country team, while it is the third consecutive BIG EAST title, either regular-season or tournament, for the field hockey program. The win was extra special for the cross country program, which hosted its first conference championship and hoisted the championship trophy in front of a home crowd.

"It was great for us to repeat this year; the kids came through and did a great job," said cross country head coach Chris Fox. "It was great to win at home. We probably had about 1,000 people there, which is huge for a cross country meet. I know the kids will always remember winning at home."

The fourth-ranked field hockey squad won its seventh BIG EAST regular-season Championship. The 2010 Orange, 15-4 overall and 6-0 in the league, is only the third SU squad to finish the conference schedule undefeated. SU has won back-to-back-to-back championships for the second time in program history as it won three consecutive in 1993, '94, and '95.

"We've created an environment here for a championship experience," said head field hockey coach Ange Bradley. "I'm fortunate and blessed to work here every day to have a chance to go after a championship. In our culture it has become an expectation to be in a position to win a BIG EAST Championship. Our dream has yet to be met and that's to win a National Championship. We're working really hard to be the first women's team at Syracuse to win a National Championship."

The men and women's harriers will participate in the NCAA Northeast Regional meet on November 13 in Madison, Conn. Both the men and women have their eye on repeating as regional champions, after winning the title in 2009. The women tied a program-best third place from 2009 at this year's BIG EAST Championship behind No. 1 Villanova and No. 5 Georgetown.

As winners of the 2010 BIG EAST Championship, the field hockey team receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship which begins Saturday, November 13.

The 16-team field for the NCAA Field Hockey Championship will be released on Tuesday, November 9 at 8 p.m. NCAA Division I and CBS College Sports have announced that the NCAA Division I Field Hockey selection show will be broadcast on broadband via www.NCAA.com.