September 25, 1998
In 1997, Villanova University celebrated its 100th year of track and field greatness. Throughout the first century of Villanova track & field, numerous athletes added to the excellence that has become synonymous with the Wildcat name. Beginning in 1996, these athletes began being recognized for their achievements as their shoes were retired and hung on the Pavilion wall overlooking the Jumbo Elliot Track. On Sept. 26, at halftime of the Villanova football game against William & Mary, two of the greatest Wildcat runners ever, in Carole Zajac and Bick Buerkle, will join them in history with their names forever becoming part of the Villanova Wall of Fame.
Competing in both track and cross country from 1990 to 1994, Carole Zajac received All-America distinction an unprecedented 11 times and won the prestigious Honda Broderick Cup for cross country twice. For her career, Zajac compiled four individual NCAA Championships and five Big East Titles. Twice in her career, she won dual National Championships in the same season, with victories in cross country and the 10,000m in 1992-93, and titles in the same two events as a senior one season later. With Zajac's victory in the 10,000m at the NCAA Championships in 1994, she became the first woman ever to repeat in that event. During her four seasons, she helped Villanova cross country become a dynasty as the four NCAA Championships during the "Zajac era" brought the Wildcats consecutive title streak to five.
Leaving his mark at Villanova from 1967-70, Dick Buerkle would go on to make a name for himself on the national and world scenes for years after. Buerkle helped lead the Wildcats to three NCAA Cross Country Championships, as well as a NCAA indoor track title. During his four year career, he was twice an IC4A Champion winning the outdoor six-mile and the indoor two-mile championships in 1970. Buerkle was also a member of the 1969 and 1970 Penn Relay Champion four-mile relay team.
After leaving the Main Line, Buerkle brought himself to national prominence. Ranked No.3 in the world in the 5,000m in 1974, he went on to win a National Championship in that event. Two years later, Buerkle won the Olympic trials and was a member of the United States Olympic Team in the 5,000m. A Sports Illustrated coverboy in 1978, he set a world record in the indoor mile at College Park, Maryland. He topped off his track and field career, reaching yet another Olympic games in the 5,000m in 1980.
Two of the finest track and field athletes to ever run at Villanova University, the Zajac and Buerkle names reach far past the Main Line campus. During their combined eight seasons, Villanova won eight NCAA Championships. Together, Zajac and Buerkle helped make the Wildcat track and field name known not only throughout the nation, but throughout the world as well. Two of the best from the first 100 years of greatness, today they will forever go down in Villanova Track and Field history, as their names have been hung for us to remember through the next century and for centuries to come.
