Oct. 13, 2012

Complete Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Mathew Mildenhall (Auckland, New Zealand) was the team's top runner and Villanova had a split of only 50 seconds between its top six runners at the Pre-NCAA Meet at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park on Saturday morning. As a team the Wildcats placed eighth out of 40 teams in a field that included seven other nationally-ranked squads.

Mildenhall came in 32nd out of 272 runners with a time of 23:54.5 on the 8,000 meter course. He was followed in short order by the trio of redshirt freshman Rob Denault (Aurora, Ont.), freshman Jordy Williamsz (Melbourne, Australia) and senior Matt Kane (Fairfield, Conn.). Those three runners were separated by less than eight seconds at the finish line as Denault came in 53rd place (24:04.7), Williamsz finishes 57th (24:06.0) and Kane placed 66th (24:12.5).

Rounding out the Villanova finishers were sophomore Brian Basili (South Orange, N.J.) in 130th place (24:40.7) and junior Greg Morrin (Hockessin, Del.) in 134th place (24:44.5).

The team result was a good one for the Wildcats at the site of the NCAA Championships next month. Villanova was coming off a team title at the Paul Short Run two weeks ago and competed against another particularly strong field on Saturday morning.

Sophomore Sam McEntee (Perth, Australia) had been the Wildcats top runner in each of the first two races of the season but came out of today's race due to an illness. With solid depth from its other six runners Villanova put itself in the middle of the closely grouped team standings. The teams that finished fourth through eighth were separated by only 63 points and the Wildcats finished ahead of BIG EAST rival Georgetown for the second straight meet.

"This was a good race for us," Villanova head coach Marcus O'Sullivan said. "Sam pulled up with a stomach issue but everyone else ran well and I think this is still a good omen for us as the season progresses."

Colorado won the team championship with 72 points and was followed by BYU (127) and Oregon (152) in the top three finishing spots. Also coming in ahead of the Wildcats were Florida State (275), Duke (287), Virginia Tech (288) and Tulsa (292).

The individual winner in the race was Anthony Rotich of UTEP with a time of 23:01.0.

Following the men's and women's seeded races on Saturday morning Villanova had two runners competing in the men's unseeded race. Sophomore Alex Tully (Little Rock, Ark.) came in 32nd in that race out of 278 competitors with a time of 24:58.8, while junior John Pickhaver (Drexel Hill, Pa.) finished 49th (25:10.5).

Members of the Wildcats will compete next week in the Haverford Invitational on October 19, while the next team meet is the BIG EAST Championships on October 26 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York.

COMPLETE RESULTS
Pre-NCAA Meet
E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park
8000 Meters

Top 10 Teams

Colorado                   72BYU                        127Oregon                     152Florida State              275Duke                       287Virginia Tech              288Tulsa                      292Villanova               338Georgetown                 351Florida                    369Eastern Michigan           369

Villanova Individuals (Men's Seeded Race)

Mathew Mildenhall          32nd of 272            23:54.5Robert Denault             53rd                   24:04.7Jordy Williamsz            57th                   24:06.0Matt Kane                  66th                   24:12.5Brian Basili               130th                  24:40.7Greg Morrin                134th                  24:44.5

Villanova Individuals (Men's Unseeded Race)

Alex Tully                 32nd of 278            24:58.8John Pickhaver             49th                   25:10.5