Villanova's Maeve Smith Earns First-Team All-Big Ten
Villanova sophomore Maeve Smith placed 10th at the Big Ten cross country championships, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Running
Villanova sophomore Maeve Smith was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference in cross country after finishing 10th at the Big Ten championships in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Villanova placed second overall at the meet.
Why it matters
First-team All-Big Ten status is awarded to the top 10 finishers at the conference championships, recognizing the top runners in the league. Smith's finish was the third fastest for Villanova, and the team's second-place showing marks a strong result at the conference level.
Smith's 6K time of 20 minutes, 27.6 seconds ranked third among Villanova finishers at the Big Ten championships. The extraction does not provide Villanova's team point total or the margin behind the first-place finisher.
The players
Maeve Smith
Villanova sophomore distance runner and Ocean City High School graduate, named first-team All-Big Ten Conference in cross country.
Villanova University
Private Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, whose women's cross country team placed second overall at the Big Ten championships.
The details
Smith, an Ocean City High School graduate and former Press Runner of the Year, finished 10th at the Big Ten conference championships in Mechanicsville, Virginia, which were run as a 6K race on Friday, November 1, 2026. Villanova placed second overall in the team standings at the meet.
Timeline
Friday, November 1, 2026: Big Ten cross country championships held in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Season Trajectory
Smith's first-team selection is the conference's standard honor for finishing in the top 10 at the Big Ten championships. Villanova's second-place team finish positions the program among the leading squads in the conference this season.
The top 10 finishers at the Big Ten championships earn first-team All-Big Ten status, which is the threshold readers can use to gauge individual placement at the conference meet. Smith's 10th-place finish is the cutoff for that honor.
The takeaway
Smith's 10th-place finish at the Big Ten championships, combined with Villanova's second-place team showing, offers a clear benchmark for conference-level performance in cross country. The results show how top individual finishes translate into both personal honors and team standing.
Further reading
For more on distance training and race results, explore the Running section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Press of Atlantic City.
