March 11, 2016 In the national championship race of the distance medley relay on Friday night, Villanova tallied a sixth place finish with a time of 9:34.30 at the NCAA Championships held at the Birmingham Crossplex. This is the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons that the Wildcats have scored in the DMR at the national meet. Villanova had a lineup that consisted of seniors Rob Denault (Aurora, Ont.) and Jordy Williamsz (Melbourne, Australia) on the leadoff and anchor legs, respectively, in addition to freshman Harry Purcell (Dublin, Ireland) on the 400 meters and sophomore Elliot Slade (Cardiff, United Kingdom) on the 800 meters.
Prior to the NCAA meet, the Wildcats had recorded the ninth-fastest DMR time in the country during the regular season with a time of 9:29.17 at the BIG EATS Championships last month. Villanova beat its seed by three spots with the sixth place finish. This is the ninth consecutive season that the Wildcats sent a DMR team to the national championships and the 23rd time overall that the team registered an All-American finish in the relay.
The splits for Villanova in Friday's race included 2:57.65 over 1200 meters for Denault, 48.32 over 400 meters for Purcell, 1:48.64 over 800 meters for Slade, and 3:59.70 for Williamsz on the 1600 meter anchor leg. The second half of the relay, Slade and Williamsz, remained the same from last year's Wildcats entry. Williamsz was running in the DMR at the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career.
After the first two legs of the relay, the field of 12 teams was evenly split between a six-team leading pack and a six-team chase pack. Villanova was in fourth place at each of the first two handoffs but settled into sixth place during the third leg of the relay after Slade initially made up ground after getting the baton.
When the anchors took over for the final 1600 meters, Washington and Oregon steadily pulled away from the rest of the pack and turned the race into a two-team battle for the lead. Oklahoma State was in third place and the Wildcats in fourth until there were 600 meters to go, when the top two teams widened their lead and the chase pack started to close ground.
Villanova earned three team points for its sixth place finish in the distance medley relay. It marks the 42nd time in the 52-year history of the indoor NCAA meet that the Wildcats have scored team points. Prior to the start of this year's championships, Villanova was one of just five programs all-time (Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee) to score at the indoor NCAA Championships in 40 or more seasons.
This will be the sixth straight year that the Wildcats tally at least one first team All-America finish during the indoor season. The official list of All-America honors will be released next week by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
COMPLETE RESULTS
NCAA Championships
Men's Distance Medley Relay
| 1 | Oregon | 9:27.27 |
| 2 | Washington | 9:28.00 |
| 3 | Mississippi | 9:31.82 |
| 4 | Stanford | 9:33.85 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 9:34.21 |
| 6 | Villanova | 9:34.30 |
| 7 | UCLA | 9:34.39 |
| 8 | Michigan | 9:37.45 |
| 9 | Penn State | 9:50.64 |
| 10 | Virginia | 9:53.16 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 9:55.12 |
| 12 | Georgetown | 10:29.70 |
VILLANOVA LINEUP AND SPLITS
