Nov. 23, 2013

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Freshman Patrick Tiernan (Toowoomba, Australia) continued his stretch of incredible races on Saturday afternoon and came in ninth at the NCAA Championships on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. In cold conditions and on a muddy track Tiernan crossed the finish line with a time of 30:15.7 to record the highest individual finish by a Villanova runner at the national meet in six years.

Tiernan and junior Sam McEntee (Perth, Australia) each finished in the top 40 and as a team the Wildcats came in 18th place. Villanova had a team score of 415 points and its other scoring runners were junior Brian Basili (South Orange, N.J.), sophomore Rob Denault (Aurora, Ont.) and redshirt freshman Harry Warnick (Fairfield, Conn.).

The race went out slow on the soft track after the starting boxes were moved up approximately 150 meters to accommodate the course conditions. Heavy rainfall and flooding in the area caused the course to be closed until the championship participants were allowed on for practice yesterday.

McEntee came in 27th overall with a time of 30:36.7 as he and Tiernan continued to be a dynamic top two in the Wildcats lineup. Basili placed 143rd (31:44.5), Denault was 160th (31:53.2) and Warnick finished in 170th place (31:59.2) to round out the five Villanova scorers.

Also running for the Wildcats were senior Alex Tully (Little Rock, Ark.) and sophomore Jordy Williamsz (Melbourne, Australia), who came in 188th (32:10.6) and 205th (32:24.1), respectively.

Villanova finished off a terrific season with today's national championship race. This is the seventh straight year that the Wildcats qualified for the NCAA meet, a new program record. Villanova won the team titles at both the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, with Tiernan capturing the individual titles at both of those events as well.

Edward Cheserek, a freshman from Oregon, won the individual national championship by 18 seconds over defending champion Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech. Colorado won the team title with 149 points and beat out Northern Arizona (169) and the rest of the 31-team field.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

Patrick Tiernan               9th of 253             30:15.7Sam McEntee                   27th                   30:36.7Brian Basili                  143rd                  31:44.5Rob Denault                   160th                  31:53.2Harry Warnick                 170th                  31:59.2Alex Tully                    188th                  32:10.6Jordy Williamsz               205th                  32:24.1