NEW ORLEANS—Men's cross country head coach Marcus O'Sullivan was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in an announcement made on Tuesday morning by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  It is the 10^th time in his career that O'Sullivan has won this award, including the sixth time for the cross country season. 
 
O'Sullivan has the Wildcats ranked No. 22 in the nation in the latest national rankings revealed by the USTFCCCA earlier this week.  Villanova won the team titles at both the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, with the latter earning the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year and the 15^th time in O'Sullivan's coaching tenure. 
 
This is the fourth time that O'Sullivan has led the Wildcats to conference and regional team titles in the same year, with this year's squad joining the 2002, 2013 and 2014 teams which accomplished the double.  Villanova had all five of its scoring runners earn both All-BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors. 
 
One of the strong points for the Wildcats this season has been the team's depth.  The same group of runners formed the top five of the lineup at both the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, but the order of finish amongst the five was completely different at each meet.  O'Sullivan has found success with a Villanova squad that had to be patient early in the year while waiting for its athletes to round into peak form. 
 
"These guys are all being trained slightly differently," O'Sullivan noted after the NCAA regional race last week.  "The struggle this year was with injuries, sickness and the inexperience of younger runners.  Trying to pull them together was a challenge but also very rewarding to see them come together.  To see them all out there harmoniously coming together is great to watch."
 
Two of the veteran performers in the Villanova lineup this season are seniors Andrew Marston (Wayne, Pa.) and Casey Comber (Maple Glen, Pa.), who each were Mid-Atlantic All-Region performers for the fourth straight year.  They became the ninth and 10^th athletes to achieve that distinction since the current format of regional competition began in 2000, while both runners also tallied their fourth straight top-10 individual finishes at the BIG EAST Championships. 
 
Sophomore Josh Phillips (Belrose, Australia), graduate student Nathan Rodriguez (Tempe, Ariz.) and redshirt freshman Haftu Strintzos (Victoria, Australia) are the other Wildcats who earned both all-conference and all-region honors. 
 
The awards for the top athlete and head coach in the nine regions across the country are voted on by the head coaches in each region.  Villanova continues its season at the NCAA Championships this coming Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.  The men's national championship race goes off at 12:15 p.m. on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

 
MARCUS O'SULLIVAN CAREER COACHING HONORS
 
USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year (1)
Women's Cross Country – 1998
 
USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (10)
Men's Cross Country – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019
Men's Indoor Track & Field – 2014, 2016
Men's Outdoor Track & Field – 2014, 2015
 
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year (16)
Men's Cross Country – 2002, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019
Men's Indoor Track & Field – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
Men's Outdoor Track & Field – 2014, 2015, 2019
Women's Cross Country – 1998
Women's Indoor Track & Field – 2000
Women's Outdoor Track & Field – 2000