There’s something about the New Balance Collegiate Invite that brings out the best in Sean Tully. Last year, the middle-distance track and field runner established a new meet record in the 1,000-meter race, finishing first out of 52 runners in the race. His time of 2:23.22 surpassed the previous in held record by over one second.

Last Saturday, almost one year to-the-date later, the senior gained another memorable finish at the event held at The Armory in the Bronx, N.Y. Tully led the Men’s team by finishing first in his section in the 800-meter race with an NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 1:49.91.

As a Cross Country runner at Syosset Senior High School in his hometown of Syosset, N.Y., Tully was named an All-County, All-State and All-American runner, while also earning the title of team MVP.

Although Tully has worked hard to become an all-star runner, it seems possible that speed may run of the Tully family. His twin brother, Dan, is also a runner for the Villanova track and field team. In this season’s opening meet, the Penn State Relays, held at State College, Villanova beat the Penn State relay team by a margin of seven seconds. Dan, in the same meet, ran a Big East qualifying time of 2:29.18 in the 1000-meter run.

Since his freshman season, Tully has made his presence known in the Big East by finishing strong in the Conference Championships for a number of different events.

As a member of the indoor 4×800-meter relay team in 2006, Tully earned a second place finish in his first-ever Big East Championship race. In the same year’s outdoor season, Tully’s 4×800-meter team won third place in the Conference Championships. In 2007, the team captured first place in the event and was named the Big East Champions. And last year, the relay team finished strong, yet again, with a third place finish in the event.

His memorable Big East Championship finishes continue beyond just the relay event, as Tully has made his mark on some of the individual conference events, as well. As a freshman, he had a seventh place finish in the indoor 1,000-meter event, while his outdoor 2007 season culminated in a third place conference finish in the 800-meter race.

In less than two weeks, the Track and Field team will take part in the 2009 Indoor Big East Championships. The event will take place at the Armory in N.Y., and Wildcat fans are looking forward to another memorable finish for Tully in the Conference Championships this season. It will be his chance to cap off a terrific indoor season for the track team.