April 18, 2014

PRINCETON, N.J. - Villanova entered athletes into three running events and came away with five new personal best times in the Larry Ellis Invitational at Weaver Stadium on Friday night. On the first night of competition at the meet the Wildcats had runners in the Elite sections of both the 800 meters and the 1500 meters while the team also competed in the 5000 meters.

In the 5000 meters junior Brian Basili (South Orange, N.J.) and redshirt freshman Harry Warnick (Fairfield, Conn.) each put up tremendous times. Basili came in eighth overall out of 77 runners with a time of 14:08.71 to shatter his previous personal best by more than 16 seconds. Basili had previously run 14:25.44 indoors earlier this year at the Armory Collegiate Invitational. Warnick was just as impressive and crossed the finish line 14:22.65 to eclipse his old top mark of 14:36.35 by more than 13 seconds. That time had also come at the Armory Collegiate Invitational earlier in the year.

Junior Dusty Solis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and redshirt freshman Josh Lampron (Mansfield, Mass.) each ran personal best times in the Elite section of the 800 meters. Solis was the runner-up out of 72 entries and crossed the finish line in 1:49.24. Lampron was not far behind and wound up in 10th place with a time of 1:50.33.

In the Elite section of the 1500 meters sophomore Jordy Williamsz (Melbourne, Australia) and junior Sam McEntee (Perth, Australia) finished third and fourth, respectively, to lead a group of four Villanova runners. Williamsz recorded a time of 3:43.01 to finish third out of 74 entries and McEntee posted a time of 3:43.33 to come in fourth. Junior Rob Denault (Aurora, Ont.) placed eighth with a time of 3:44.28 and freshman Patrick Tiernan (Toowoomba, Australia) was 12th in 3:46.27. Tiernan lowered his previous personal best of 3:49.67 by more than three seconds.

Earlier in the day on Friday senior Drew King (New Haven, Conn.) and sophomore James Rowen (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) competed in the throwing events. King came in 15th in the hammer with a throw of 48.73 meters, which is the second-longest mark of his career. Rowen placed 18th in the shot put with a distance of 12.54 meters.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

800 Meters (Elite Section)

Dusty Solis                 2nd of 72                1:49.24Josh Lampron                10th                     1:50.33

1500 Meters (Elite)

Jordy Williamsz             3rd of 74                3:43.01Sam McEntee                 4th                      3:43.33Rob Denault                 8th                      3:44.28Patrick Tiernan             12th                     3:46.27

5000 Meters

Brian Basili                8th of 77                14:08.71Harry Warnick               20th                     14:22.65

Shot Put

James Rowen                 18th of 18               12.54m

Hammer

Drew King                   15th of 20               48.73m