This past weekend, Villanova track and field athletes competed at the Duke Invitational in Durham, NC and Rutger’s Relays in Piscataway, NJ.
Senior Marco Langon won the 5K at Duke, running a 13:28.43. Langon set the meet record and put up the seventh fastest time in program history.
“We’re just coming down here to get the time,” Langon said to FloTrack. “There was no other reason.”
The Duke Invitational was Langon’s first meet for the outdoor season. His runner-up was Wake Forest junior Rocky Hansen who finished in 13:29.53.
Three more Wildcats rounded off the top five in the 5k. Junior CJ Sullivan finished at 13:41.28, earning third place at the meet and the ninth fastest time in program history. Junior Bailey Habler and sophomore Jack Fenlon earned fourth and fifth place at 13.41.57 and 13:44.87, respectively.
“When you go down to Duke they try to get some times for the NCCAs,” men’s head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “The heats are in descending order, so it’s important to pick and choose what meets they could do better in.”
At Rutgers, the women’s team dominated the top four in the 800 meter race. Sophomore Bella Walsh earned first place with a personal best of 2:06.27. Freshman Sophia McInnes and junior Caelen O’Leary reached season bests to claim second and third place. McInnes and O’Leary finished less than a second apart at 2:09.68 and 2:10.17. In fourth place was freshman Gabby Pistner at 2:13.35.
Back at Duke, all Villanova men’s 400-meter runners made the top 10 in their event. Junior Ethan Walls ran a pest best of 47.95 in the 400 meter race to finish in second place. Freshman Andy Guiser ran a personal best of 48.61, earning sixth place. Rounding out the top ten were senior Matthew Griffin and junior Luke Rakowitz at 49.05 and 49.12, respectively.
Junior Dan Watcke claimed third place out of 105 competitors in his 800 meter race. Watcke finished with a time of 1:47.93. Geiser also ran a personal best in the 200-meter at 48.61. The 400-meter hurdle race had three top 10 finishers with sophomore Liam Gluck leading the pack with second place and a time of 54.69. At fifth and seventh place were seniors Sal Barretta and Ronan O’Neill, finishing at 55.25 and 55.61.
At Rutgers, the women’s 1500- meter had three Villanova runners in the top five. Freshman Maeve Smith finished in 4:33.32 to claim second place. Freshman Cecilia Montagnese ran a 4:37.44 personal best to earn third place. In fifth place, senior Kinsey Pogue crossed the line at 4:46.12.
In the 1500-meter men’s race, Sophomore Ben Thomas ran the metric equivalent of a sub-4-minute mile at 3:41.29. The time helped Thomas claim fifth place and a personal best. Grad students Sean Donoghue and Devon Comber finished at 3:42.71 and 3:47.71.
Junior sprinter Lore Olakunle ran a 12.65 100 meter race and got a personal best. Sophomore Chris Coulter had a 17.47 meter season best in shot put to reach seventh place. Coulter also had a 38.38 meter personal best in discus. Junior Aidan Shay achieved a collegiate personal best of 51.70 meter in javelin.
Rookies dominated the throwing events at Rutgers. Jess Bentum earned third place in the hammer throw. At 49.23 meter the freshman got a personal best and moved to No. 8 in program history.
Hallie Kees earned sixth place in javelin. At 40.93 meter, Kees also landed at no.8 in Villanova history for that event. Senior Jimmy Milgie ran a season best to get fifth place at 48.49 meter.
Men’s distance runners will have the week off from competition in preparation for the 130th Annual Penn Relays starting on Thursday, April 23.
“You can’t truly rest for Penn Relays,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s so early in the season…it is such an important event for us. This week practice will progress as normal and then more conservative training for the week of Penn Relays.”
Villanova track and field is scheduled to attend the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville and the Paul Donahue Invite in Chester, PA this weekend.
