Jan. 18, 2014

NEW YORK - At the Great Dane Classic on Friday night Villanova had 18 student-athletes competing in 11 different events at a meet that featured more than 40 teams from around the area. The top result for the Wildcats at the New York Armory was a first-place finish in the distance medley relay, with other highlights including personal best marks in the pole vault and the 60 meter hurdles.

In the distance medley relay the lineup of redshirt freshman Josh Lampron (Mansfield, Mass.), junior Bryan Murphy (Teaneck, N.J.), freshman Ben Malone (River Vale, N.J.) and graduate student Mike Palmisano (Dresher, Pa.) combined to register a winning time of 9:58.26, just better than two seconds faster than runner-up La Salle and the rest of the teams in a field of 10 entries.

Murphy ran the 400 meters leg of the distance medley relay and also took the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay, in which Villanova came in seventh out of 34 squads in 3:20.27. Freshman Kyle Cartwright (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) led off that relay and was followed by sophomore Joseph Messick (Montgomery, N.J.), Murphy and sophomore Donald Urschel (East Brunswick, N.J.).

Earlier in the day Cartwright ran individually in the 500 meters and registered a time of 1:07.14. Urschel also ran individually before the relays, coming in with a time of 51.82 in the 400 meters.

Sophomore Aaron Sandifer (Harrisburg, N.C.) recorded a personal best time of 8.67 in the 60 meter hurdles. The top individual finish in the running events for the Wildcats came from freshman Ayomide Obadare (Elmont, N.Y.), who placed seventh in the 400 meters with a time of 48.80.

Senior Chris Dougherty (Cherry Hill, N.J.) had an outstanding performance in the pole vault and tied for third place out of 22 competitors with a height of 4.80 meters. That broke his old mark of 4.50 meters, which he had initially set at the Armory two years ago. Dougherty matched his previous best height on his third and final try, then cleared 4.65 meters on his second attempt before sailing over the bar at 4.80 meters on the first try.

Villanova was competing in the second of three straight meets at the Armory. Next week the Wildcats return to New York and will take part in the NYC Team Challenge.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

60 Meter Hurdles (Preliminaries)

Aaron Sandifer               27th of 37              8.67

400 Meters

Ayomide Obadare              7th of 52               48.80Donald Urschel               43rd                    51.82

500 Meters

Kyle Cartwright              18th of 27              1:07.14

800 Meters

Kieran Brennan               13th of 31              1:58.68

1000 Meters

Charlie Bates                13th of 26              2:32.26Chris FitzSimons             14th                    2:32.43Chris Pietrocarlo            17th                    2:32.97

4x400 Meter Relay

Villanova                    7th of 34               3:20.27Kyle Cartwright              1stJoseph Messick               2ndBryan Murphy                 3rdDonald Urschel               Anchor

Distance Medley Relay

Villanova                    1st of 10               9:58.26Josh Lampron                 1200Bryan Murphy                 400Ben Malone                   800Michael Palmisano            1600

High Jump

Elbert Maxwell               15th of 18              1.89m

Pole Vault

Chris Dougherty              tie-3rd of 22           4.80mKolby Koeck                  19th                    4.35m

Shot Put

James Rowen                  20th of 23              12.66m

Weight Throw

Drew King                    18th of 25              14.09m