VILLANOVA, Pa.—Several of the most recognizable stars from an era of Villanova dominance were on hand Tuesday night to celebrate the naming of one of the offices in the Wildcats track & field suite in recognition of Joe McNichol '77, a former Villanova runner in his own right who later spent countless hours working with the Delaware Sports Club where he mentored two prominent future Wildcats prior to their college years.  Those athletes were Melissa (Grubb) Lafferty '87 and Vicki (Huber) Rudawsky '89, who led the effort to honor McNichol's contributions to the program. 
 
"This is such a special evening to give a level of recognition and pay tribute to what Joe has done, which is to display the power of influence," current Villanova head coach Marcus O'Sullivan said.  "If you have coached at any level, then you recognize the awesome power of coaching.  One of the things we are supposed to do as coaches is try and change the minds of young people so that when they move forward in life they start to believe in themselves, but more importantly they start to recognize the importance of selfless service others.  That is a tremendous legacy to leave people, and to see so many people here to recognize Joe is very important for me as a coach."
 
Before they starred for Villanova at a time when the women's track & field and cross country program was growing into a national powerhouse, Lafferty and Rudawsky were top scholastic runners at Concord (Del.) High School.  McNichol was simultaneously making a name for himself in track & field coaching circles during those years.  He donated his time to the Delaware Sports Club from 1979 to 1992 and led workouts for runners of all talent levels from the high school, collegiate and post-collegiate ranks.  McNichol was also the meet director of the Salesianum School cross country invitational for 17 years.
 
Lafferty addressed McNichol during her remarks on Tuesday night, noting that "what once started with one or two girls running the streets of the neighborhood quickly became a fast-growing group of 35 plus runners just by word of mouth.  With your own personal track successes at both [Salesianum] and Villanova, and a deep love of running, you started a long-standing running program for both high school runners and adults."
 
For a legendary track & field program which for so long has considered itself to be one big extended family, the connections between McNichol, Lafferty and Rudawsky are a true Villanova feel-good story.  McNichol was a walk-on member of the team during the mid-1970's when the Wildcats men's program was consistently churning out one NCAA and IC4A champion after another.  He was part of the Villanova team which won the National AAU Championship in 1974, where he notched an individual sixth place finish.  McNichol's experience would be passed on to Lafferty, a Delaware state record holder in high school at 800 meters, 1600 meters and 3200 meters who would go on to achieve success early in her collegiate career. 
 
Lafferty arrived on campus in the fall of 1983 and shifted from the middle distances to the longer events on the track, in addition to running cross country for the first time after playing field hockey during her high school's fall seasons.  She quickly took to the longer distances, notably finishing second in the Wildcats lineup at the BIG EAST Championships during her freshman cross country season.  One year later, Lafferty was again a scoring runner for Villanova when the team won the first of what is now a record 16 conference team titles in women's cross country.  She was equally successful on the track, running the 10,000 meters as a freshman and earning All-BIG EAST honors with a third place finish at the conference championships.  Lafferty ran on the team's BIG EAST champion 4x800 meter relay indoors as a sophomore and was a part of consecutive ECAC distance medley relay titles.
 
Rudawsky met McNichol before her freshman year in high school and he immediately recognized both her talent as well as the need to prevent the future eight-time NCAA champion, 10-time All-American, 20-time BIG EAST champion and two-time United States Olympian from burning out too early in her racing career.  Her first state title was the 800 meters as a sophomore in high school.  Rudawsky won both the 800 meters and the 1600 meters her junior and senior years, but at the same time also played flute in the band and was an all-state field hockey player.  McNichol's coaching philosophy in reigning in and protecting Rudawsky's talent is the same guiding principle which shapes the current Villanova program.

"When we heard the stories about how this night came to happen some words came to mind and one of those was inspiration," Villanova Director of Athletics Mark Jackson said.  "Joe has been an inspiration to athletes for a long time.  We are inspired by that, Joe's runners have recognized what he means to them, and we are celebrating that tonight."
 
The common bonds shared between McNichol, Lafferty and Rudawsky are striking.  All three were Delaware state champions in high school and all three are members of the Delaware Track & Field Hall of Fame.  Rudawsky was part of the 2001 induction class, while McNichol was inducted in 2016 and Lafferty a year later.  Their influence, as Delaware natives and Villanovans, is not hard to find on the Wildcats roster. 
 
Villanova sophomore Lydia Olivere is the latest Delaware native and state champion to don the Wildcats uniform.  The graduate of Padua Academy in Wilmington was a five-time state MVP in high school and, like the generation who came before her, has quickly found success in the collegiate ranks.  Olivere has already set a Villanova program record in the 3000 meter steeplechase and was a gold medalist in the event at the Pan American U20 Championships in Costa Rica this past summer. 
 
Tuesday night's event to recognize McNichol's influence on future Wildcats stars was a fitting one, and the office that now bears his name ensures that the connection will be felt for generations to come.