On Saturday, Dec. 6, junior runner Marco Langon ensured that Villanova track and field would kick off its indoor season in school history-making fashion.
At the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, MA, Langon broke the Villanova men’s 5,000-meter indoor record. After redshirting the cross country season, Langon came in second in a photo-finish race that was decided by thousandths of a second.
“It’s always better to have a rust buster before going into a big race,” head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “So, there was a little hesitancy there, not from [Langon’s] standpoint, but more from me. All things considered, he hasn’t raced in five months, and so the expectations were reserved from me only because it’s his first race.”
He lost by just 0.004 seconds to University of Mexico sophomore Habtom Samuel, the NCAA 2025 cross country champion. Samuel ran a 13:05.203 to Langon’s 13:05.207 in the race.
Langon’s new time places him amongst some of the fastest long-distance collegiate runners. Saturday’s performance gives him the fifth-fastest time ever recorded for the men’s collegiate indoor 5,000 meters, and marks his fourth 5,000 meters time below 13:15.
The school record was previously held and set last year by 2025 Villanova graduate Liam Murphy and stood for 45 years prior.
“When you run 13:05, have a personal best, and set a school record, that reveals a lot,” O’Sullivan said. “The fact that you’re not seventh or eighth down the field after taking off some time reveals to me that there’s a lot more to come.”
Langon was one of a group of Wildcats on the men’s and women’s teams to start the season in Boston. Another group competed at the Penn Opener in Philadelphia, PA.
Additionally, two Wildcats, along with Murphy, headed to the west coast to compete at the USATF Cross Country Championship in Portland, OR.
Also running the indoor 5K, junior CJ Sullivan, set a PR, finishing in 13:49.15. Other Wildcats at the event for the men’s team included junior Nick Sullivan, as well as sophomores Charlie Moore and Jack Fenlon, who both ran their first indoor events as Wildcats.
On the women’s side, junior Tilly O’Connor recorded a personal record in the indoor 5K. Her time of 15:56.27 made her the 11th Wildcat to break 16 minutes in the event for Villanova’s women’s track.
Graduate student Margaret Caroll and senior Amelia Arietta also recorded personal records in the event, finishing in times of 16:01.51 and 16:37.67, respectively.
Graduate student Nikki Vanasse and Rosie Shay competed in the 3K of the meet. Vanassee finished eighth of 100 runners and recorded a lifetime PR of 9.13.28. Shay finished the event with a time of 9:26.61.
On the other side of the country, in Portland, OR, Villanova freshmen Ryan Schmitt and Maeve Smith competed in men’s and women’s U20 races.
Schmitt finished the U20 Men’s 8K with a time of 26:32.9, placing 16th in the event. Smith finished the U20 Women’s 6K in 22:52.8, placing seventh.
Schmidt and Smith were joined in Portland by Murphy. Running for Swoosh TC, Murphy finished the Open Men’s 10K with a time of 29:59.4, finishing seventh in the event.
Back in the northeast, the men’s and women’s teams traveled to Philadelphia for the Penn Opener.
On the men’s side, sophomore thrower Joe D’Adamo finished in fifth place, throwing a personal record of 14.47 meters. Additionally, senior Liam Anderson set a personal record in the shot put with a distance of 14.23 meters.
On the women’s side, graduate student Lizzie Martell recorded a personal record in the 1000 meters. She placed second in the race with a time of 2:46.70.
“Considering that it’s the tail end of the cross country season, we look at this team knowing that they’re in great shape,” O’Sullivan said. “They’ve done all the work this fall season, so now we give them a week off, and when they come back, then we’ll rebuild for the indoor season.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams are set to compete in the new year at the Penn Select on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Penn.
