This past weekend, Villanova Track and Field earned six championship titles and nine podium appearances at the 2026 Big East Championship held in Chicago, IL.
The women’s track team achieved third place at the conference indoor championships with 115 total points. The men came in fourth place with a total of 82 points.
The meet uses a point system. First through eighth place finishers get a certain number of points for each respective event. First place is 10 points, second is eight points, six is five and it continues to descend by one.
The two-day meet started on Friday afternoon with both men’s and women’s DMR finishing in first place at 9:43.92 and 11:20.81 in their respective events.
Senior Marco Langon anchored the men’s DMR with a split of 4:00.81 in the mile portion. Langon also won a gold medal in the 3k, clinching his sixth career Big East title, with a time of 7:57.65.
Sophomore Jack Fenlon led the first portion of the DMR, finishing the 1200-meter in 3:00.28. Junior Ryan Beegle ran the following split, putting up a time of 1:53.04 in the 800-meter. Senior Sal Baretta completed the 400-meter leg in 49.43, holding the lead until Langon clinched the win for the ‘Cats.
“They kept it very, very close, which meant Marco didn’t have to do as much work to catch up,” head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “Jack Fenlon led off, and he’s really starting to get a little bit more confident in himself.”
Fenlon alongside Langon, ran the 3k in 8:06.64, earning fourth place.
On the women’s side, fifth-year Sadie Sigfstead won the 5k in 15:44.02, finishing 38 seconds ahead of fifth-year Margaret Carroll, who earned a second place finish for the ‘Cats in 16:22.46.
During the women’s DMR, sophomore Rosie Shay finished the first leg in 3:29.67. Senior Micah Trusty ran her speciality, the 400-meter and landed a personal best split of 56.33. Junior Therese Trainer ran 2:13.33 in the 800-meter and junior Tilly O’Connor anchored the event, running the 1600-meter in 4:41.49.
Junior Olivia Allen earned a first place finish in the 400-meter preliminaries and reached second in the finals with a time of 54.38.
Junior Bailey Habler finished in second place in the mile with a time of 4:15.83, after achieving first in the preliminary round with a time of 4:09.64.
Fifth year Sean Donohue took a tumble during the aggressive race and was disqualified. The race began with two false starts.
Fifth year Maria Deaviz won her first Big East title in the shot put at 16.70 meters.
Junior Malaika Cunningham won the high jump event with a mark of 1.73 meters.
Finishing in 1:46.82, junior Dan Watcke got second in the 800-meter race.
“[Watcke] didn’t lose to an average athlete, he lost to a very, very good athlete,” O’Sullivan said. “He ran him all the way to the line. So, I think he was very excited about that in terms of his ability to be able to race in a racing situation.”
In the women’s mile, fifth-year Nikki Vanasse ran a 4:36.77, earning second place. Sophomore Bella Walsh came in at 4:41.79 to get fifth place.
Fifth-year Tristan Bolinsky achieved second in the weight throw at a distance of 18.25m.
Villanova dominated the women’s 3k, earning second through fifth place. Sophomore Rosie Shay and O’Connor placed second and third, finishing in 9:06.55 and 9:07.18 respectively. Sigfstead and Carroll placed fourth and fifth, and the pair finished in 9:07.76 and 9:08.51.
More relay teams ran Saturday. Villanova men’s 4×800-meter second place with a time of 7:38.33. Sophomore Ben Thomas and junior Ryan Beegle ran splits of 1:53.03 and 1:52.96, respectively. Habler and Donoghue finished out the race at 1:52.11 and 1:50.25.
“You were allowed to mix and match your relay, so you can qualify with a whole different team,” O’Sullivan said in response to formulating who is running in the relays. “You know what you’re gonna do unless there’s an emergency when you’re down there and you have to change something up.”
Villanova women’s 4×400 and 4×800 both took third place. The 4×400-meter relay consisted of freshman Kate Borton, Allen, Trusty, and Trainor crossing the finish at 3:47.12. Freshman Sophia McInnes, junior Caelen O’Leary, Vanasse and Walsh ran the 4×800-meter relay, finishing in 8:42.78.
Junior C.J. Sullivan did not travel with the team to Chicago due to illness.
In two weeks, a group of Wildcats will travel to Fayetteville, AR, for the NCAA Indoor Championship beginning on March 13.
For a majority of the team, the Big East Championship concludes the indoor season. The next outdoor meet will commence on Saturday, March 21 at the Penn Challenge in Philadelphia, PA.
