PHILADELPHIA – Saturday, April 26, marked the third and final day of the 129th Penn Relays. As the humidity lingered and off-and-on rain poured onto Franklin Field’s track, the conditions for running were anything but ideal.
Villanova’s day was highlighted by the men’s 4xMile relay who consisted of senior Devon Comber, sophomore Bailey Habler, junior Marco Langon, and fifth-year anchor Liam Murphy. Despite a kick by Murphy in the relay’s final 50 meters, Villanova came up short of a three-peat and finished second to Washington.
Comber joined the 4xMile relay for the first time in his Villanova career and ran the leadoff leg in 4:09.36. With the rain picking up just at the start of the relay, it shifted from a fast to a tactical race.
“It’s tough to compete for a spot on these relays when you have two of the best milers in the nation of all time,” Comber said. “That’s part of this program. I wouldn’t want to compete with anybody else.”
No runners in the relay field ran a sub-four-minute mile, which is required to break the 4xMile world record. Villanova men’s head coach Marcus O’Sullivan holds the current world record of 15:49.08, along with his Irish teammates, which they set back on Aug. 17, 1985.
“I love my job,” O’Sullivan said at an Alumni breakfast on Saturday morning. “I love what I do. I love what we represent.”
Habler recorded a time of 4:06.16 on the second leg before passing it off to Langon.
“We didn’t know what order we were going in until five minutes really before in the warm-up [area], and so it was really exciting just to be able to step out there and give our best and everything,” Habler said.
Langon returned to the 4xMile for the second year in a row to post the fastest split of the entire relay field with 4:00.44. However, Langon wanted to set up Murphy on the anchor leg to be in second place rather than lead the last mile.
That placement would have allowed Murphy to chase down North Carolina’s Ethan Strand instead of having to lead. Murphy ran the anchor leg in 4:08.97.
In the final 200 meters of the race, Murphy was passed by Strand and Washington’s Ronan McMahon-Staggs. Murphy passed Strand in the final 50 meters, but Washington ended up crossing the finish line first with a time of 16:24.61.
Last year, Murphy and Langon, along with alum Sean Donoghue and Charlie O’Donovan, broke the NCAA record in the 4xMile with a time of 15:51.91. The time is also the second-fastest in world history.
“You just have so much expectation and pressure,” Langon said. “When you can perform at the level that you need to and bring some wheels home, it’s an unbelievable feeling but I think there is a little bit of a bright side and not getting the wheels home today, because now, as brothers we’re able to soften our sorrows for a little bit and realize that this it’s way bigger than Penn Relays.”
Villanova closed out the day with two relays, beginning with the women’s 4×800-meter relay championship. The team was made up of freshman Rosie Shay (2:07.40), junior Micah Trusty (2:11.48), freshman Bella Walsh (2:08.10), and fifth-year anchor Lizzie Martell (2:10.66).
The four combined for a time of 8:37.63 to finish seventh in the relay championship.
“I think we really kind of got to experience Penn Relays the right way today,” Shay said. “I think there’s more to come for our group, and it’s great we’re all coming back next year.”
All four girls have experience running in the Penn Relays. Shay and Walsh have run in the Penn Relays while in high school, while Trusty has been competing at Franklin Field since she was in the sixth grade.
“I’ll have a full year of eligibility next year,” Martell said. “I’m just really looking forward to having a year that we train with these ladies and get better and come back.”
The men’s 4×400-meter relay was the last event Villanova competed in at the 2025 Penn Relays. After qualifying on Friday in the preliminary heats, the four men – Barretta, Rakowitz, Walls and Milgie – ran a 3:11.05 in the championship to finish third.
Villanova track and field will compete in one more meet before the Big East Championships in May. Next weekend, the Wildcats will travel to the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J. The two-day meet will begin on Friday, May 2, with the women’s hammer throw (2 p.m., FloSports).
