Villanova men’s and women’s cross country had record days at the NCAA National Championships in Madison, Wis. on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Cross country had its best performance at the championship race since 2013. The men had two finishers – graduate Liam Murphy and junior Marco Langon – in the top 15 at the national championships for the first time in 54 years.
The men posted a 15th-place team finish.
The lone individual to represent the women was senior Sadie Sigfstead. She had the best finish for a female Wildcat since 2013.
Over the course of the season, Murphy had slowly improved his times and fitness level to prepare himself for the 10K course in Madison. This year’s nationals marked Murphy’s final cross-country race as a Wildcat.
Murphy had a time of 28:55.7 to set a new school record for a 10,000-meter cross-country course, surpassing his former teammate Haftu Strintzos.
“I think it’s an intense event,” men’s head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “The top 15 finishers were all inside the course record, so it shows you how fast they were going.”
Langon paced right alongside Murphy for much of the race until Murphy broke away. Since the national course was 10,000 meters, Langon seems to perform better with longer distances. He finished in 29:08.8 to finish 15th, marking the fourth-fastest time in the Wildcats record book.
“I think [Langon] had an outstanding season and had an outstanding championship,” O’Sullivan said. “I think there’s a lot to be said for his ability to be able to run longer and more intensely. And so I think it was a perfect race for him. All in all, he has to be happy with the season. I’m very happy with his progress this year.”
Langon passed seven runners during his final kick over the last kilometer.
Murphy and Langon’s performances earned them All-America honors.
Rounding out the scoring five were redshirt freshmen Bailey Habler and CJ Sullivan as well as senior Devon Comber. Habler and Sullivan made their NCAA Championships debut. The Wildcats remained consistent all postseason, having the same five scoring runners at all three postseason meets this season.
Habler finished 125th overall in 30:02.9. Sullivan crossed the line in 30:14.6, finishing 150th. Comber was 201st (30:47.8).
Villanova’s team finish of 15th place marked the best finish by the team since a seventh-place finish in 2014. O’Sullivan holds this team amongst the crowded history of high-level Wildcat runners.
“They’re definitely a highlighted team for me,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re a fun bunch of guys. I like the fact that they’re all easy to manage for the most part. They’ve brought the best out of me. From a coaching standpoint, I’m continually learning and you’re continually having to fine-tune your technical skills. And I think they’ve all contributed and helped me pull myself into a different level of culture.”
Sigfstead was the lone Wildcat who qualified for the women’s race.
Her 15th-place finish at nationals marked her first All-America honors in her collegiate career. She raced the 6K course in 19:49.0. It was the fifth time she ran under 20 minutes this season.
Last season, Sigfstead finished 71st. Her finish this year launched her 56 spots to 15th, a huge improvement in just one year.
“To get into the top 15, I thought that was phenomenal,” women’s head coach Gina Proaccio said. “Especially to go from 71st last year and 15th this year, so she was happy, and it was nice to see her so happy.”
Sigfstead’s performance at nationals ended a successful season where she earned National Athlete of the Week after claiming an individual win at the Nuttycombe Invitational in September. She followed that with top-10 finishes at the Princeton Fall Classic, the Big East Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.
With the cross-country season coming to an end, some athletes will continue their training for indoor track and field’s first meet, the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Saturday, Dec. 7, in Boston, Mass.
