On Saturday, Jan 25, senior Marco Langon recorded a 7:34.56 in the 3,000-meter, the fourth-fastest indoor time in NCAA history and a personal best.
Langon now holds the Villanova school record in the 3K and the 5K (13:05.21). Both times have been set this indoor season. He finished fifth at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, in a field that included many professional athletes.
“The pro meet is a really world-class race,” men’s head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “It’s very hard to extract that kind of a performance when the field isn’t built through. I think he wanted more. He’s in great shape, but he also hasn’t raced since December.”
While Langon ran for the first time in nearly two months, the majority of Villanova track and field competed at the Penn 10 Elite this past weekend for its sixth indoor meet of the season. The Ott Center for Track and Field, Penn’s brand-new facility in University City, has been a helpful asset to the indoor season.
“Winter’s a tough time,” women’s head coach Gina Procaccio said. “I think just having them be able to just hop on the train on campus and not having to do all the travel. We noticed last year that we had a lot less sicknesses on the team.”
Fifth-year thrower Maria Deaviz also accomplished a school record of 16.46 meters in shot put. The transfer from Michigan finished second at the Penn 10 Elite and posted a top-20 distance in the NCAA this season.
At Penn, sophomore Bella Walsh and junior Tilly O’Connor achieved first and second, respectively, crossing the finish line at 4:37.18 and 4:37.55. The pair also both posted new personal bests. While O’Connor kept a steady pace throughout the middle laps, Walsh sprinted the last few to win the race.
“I couldn’t have done it without [O’Connor], really,” Walsh said. “Watching her excel in cross-country this year and how consistent she’s been throughout the whole year. I couldn’t be more happy for her. I think just being able to be on the line with her gave me more confidence in myself. It’s just another workout, it’s just another practice.”
Junior Bailey Habler ran a 3:59.34 mile in his first collegiate appearance in the mile. Habler finished second behind former Villanova runner Charlie O’Donovan. Habler’s time now sits in the top 30 NCAA all-time list. Fifth-year Devon Comber finished in fifth place with a time of 4:00.59.
“I think we have a pretty funny, jovial bunch of boys, so it’s not hard,” Habler said. “Everyone’s pretty motivated, and the coaches and staff get pretty in line and check. We have it easy when you have like-minded people here.”
Fifth-year Lizzie Martell won the women’s 800 meter race, running a personal best of 2:06.58, which was #15 in NCAA indoor. Junior Olivia Allen finished in third place in the 400 meter race with a time of 54.75, which landed her in fourth on Villanova’s all-time indoor performance list.
A trio of women’s distance runners ran the elite 3K on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Rosie Shay came in at 9:13.45 to reach fourth place. Freshman Zoe Mosher and fifth-year Margaret Carroll crossed the line to reach sixth and seventh place at 9:14.66 and 9:18.12, respectively.
Sophomore Jack Fenlon achieved a second personal best, going sub-eight minutes in the men’s 3K. Crossing the finish line at 7:59.39 put him in the top 10 finishers.
“It was a good one for him personally, but also it was good in his journey,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s had some rough moments in the first year, like just things didn’t go the way he thought they would go, and it was a little bit more challenging than he thought, but he’s kept up his confidence.”
Fifth-year Tristan Bolisnky threw a 17.91 meters to place third in the weight throw. Freshman Yianni Papanikolas threw the shot put 16.11 meter, putting him at No. 8 in school history for the indoor event.
Junior Gina Smith jumped 11.67 meters in the triple jump, moving into the top 10 in Villanova history.
The women’s team will compete this Friday, Jan 30 at the Ott Center in Philadelphia. The men’s team will travel to University Park, PA this weekend for the Penn State National Open on Friday, Jan 30 and Saturday, Jan 31.
