The home of sophomore runner Charlie Moore is 9,558 miles away from Villanova University in Brisbane, Australia. With runners from all over the world, the Villanova men’s cross country has grown to be a United Nations of sorts. 

Villanova has runner from Australia, and another two from Ireland, it has grown accustomed to welcoming foreign athletes. Villanova men’s cross country head coach Marcus O’Sullivan hails from Cork, Ireland himself. 

“Some adapt so much quicker,” O’Sullivan said. “Others, they’re set in their ways and it’s hard. They love going home, but you can tell they’re a lot more excited to come back and be at school again. And I think that’s the big difference between the freshmen coming in and the sophomores coming in.”

Moore, the first-place finisher in the 5k and second-place finisher in the 6k at the 2024 Australian U20 track nationals, has a lot of potential here in the U.S.

“That was kind of a crazy 12 months, I’d say, because I went from being this runner who hadn’t really made a national track and field team before,” Moore said. “I love cross country. It’s by far my favorite event. I just love the team aspect of it.”

Moore went to the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, commonly known as “Churchie” to the locals.  It is an all-boys boarding school that further developed his love for running and his country. Villanova junior Jack Coomber lives only 15 minutes away from Moore in Australia. 

“We know each other very well,” Moore said. “We both went to cross country worlds together, both ran many national cross countries against and with each other.” 

Since Noah Humberstone was both runners’ U20 coach, he was able to help Coomber and Moore get recruited by Villanova. Ensuring that they were contacting different American coaches so they could get offers and scholarships, Humberstone was a vital contributor to their athletic careers.

Villanova was a no-brainer for Moore. Even though he lives very far away from his hometown, the joint efforts of the team and coaching staff made Moore feel like he was home. Along with him and Coomber, there are two other sophomores on the roster who are from abroad. Ben Thomas is from Sydney, Australia and Jack Fenlon is from Laois, Ireland. 

“I guess us four, all internationals, we sort of know what we’re going through, but we also all train together,” Moore said. “We’re really close, all really good mates on and off the track, and it’s just keeping that accountability like we’re always all there for each other.”

Last year’s indoor season, Moore redshirted and then made his track debut during the outdoor season. On Saturday, Aug. 29, 2025, Villanova junior CJ Sullivan got first place and Moore achieved second place, respectively, in the Lehigh Invitational 6K. Both Wildcats crossed the finish line, with a time of 18:11.1. 

This year’s cross country team is missing a few key runners this season. Liam Murphy recently signed with Nike as a professional runner after graduating in May. Senior Marco Langon is redshirting this cross country season, but will return to competition for the indoor season. 

“The whole team’s really excited to just get into it and show everyone, because we are a bit of an underdog team this year,” Moore said. “It’s proving  to ourselves that we can fill that gap and we can contend on the national scene, but also I think proving to everyone else that we’re a genuine contender, in the next two years especially.”

The front-runners for this year’s roster are Moore, along with juniors Bailey Habler and CJ Sullivan. There are no official captains that were named, but O’Sullivan believes that trio of athletes will guide the team into an explosive season. 

“I do have a leadership group that manages thought-provoking ideas for the team,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re made up of everybody, so they’re made up of field events, sprints, jumps and distance. I think all in all, it’s a young-ish team and natural leaders start to kind of emerge on the ground.” 

Villanova men’s cross country is scheduled to run at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, PA, on Friday, Oct 3. Moore will make his indoor track debut with the Wildcats when the season begins in early December.