The women’s track and field team put together a strong showing at the NCAA Indoor Championships this past weekend at the Randall Tyson Track Center at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.

Friday night, the team of sophomores Bogdana Mimic and Christie Verdier, junior Sheila Reid and freshman Ariann Neutts put together a fourth place finish in the distance medley relay behind Tennessee, Oregon and Georgetown. Mimic led off the 1200-meter leg with a time of 3:28.51. 

Verdier flew through her 400-meter with a time of 55.69 then handed off to Neutts. 

Neutts finished the 800-meter leg in 2:08.91 and handed off to Reid, who anchored the relay in the 1600-meter leg with a fast time of 4:36.06. Their efforts resulted in a time of 11:09.16 and their fourth-place finish earned them All-American status for finishing in the top eight. 

Senior Nicole Schappert took 13th place in the mile preliminary with a time of 4:47.46. 

Saturday night, Reid, Mimic and Schappert returned to the track along with junior Alison Smith to compete in the 3000-meter run. Reid put together an impressive third place finish (9:01.13). Schappert followed with a time of 9:12.51 to finish sixth. 

Mimic finished 12th at 9:18.87, and Smith rounded out the Villanova roster with a time of 9:25.22. 

The ladies’ combined effort resulted in 14 points and landed them 17th place, tied with Indiana State. The team left Arkansas with five All-American honorees. C.S. 

The men’s track team finished its indoor season last weekend as the distance medley relay squad traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships, where they placed ninth.

The Wildcats DMR team ended a successful season, which included a Big East title in February and a strong performance in March at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind. At this meet, ‘Nova earned its trip to Fayetteville when junior Carl Mackenzie, seniors Garrett Kroner and Cody Harper and sophomore Mat Mildenhall combined for a time of 9:33.11 to qualify.

Heading into the championship at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the quartet was a top-10 team and was set to run in a final-only event on Friday night.

Villanova faced distance medley relay squads from Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.

Mackenzie was first up for the ‘Cats and completed the 1200-meter leg of the race with a time of 2:56.30.

Kroner then took off in the 400-meter leg and finished in 48.06, followed by Harper, who ran the 800-meter leg in a time of 1:51.02.Mildenhall was the anchor for Villanova in the 1600-meter leg and completed his split in 4:04.59.

While the runners’ combined time of 9:39.96 was a few seconds off the first-place time, only .05 seconds off a mark that would have made Mackenzie, Kroner, Harper and Mildenhall NCAA All-Americans. 

Instead, that honor went to the members of the eight teams that placed ahead of Villanova.

Oregon finished first in the relay with a time of 9:36:87, just edging out host team Arkansas, which posted a time of 9:37.53. Rounding out the top five were Minnesota, California and Eastern Michigan

The track team will kick off its outdoor season on March 27 when it hosts Temple and La Salle.  A.W.