VILLANOVA, Pa.—An annual Villanova tradition had a celebratory theme on Saturday morning as head coaches Marcus O'Sullivan and Gina Procaccio hosted their annual alumni breakfast during Penn Relays week.  Taking center stage during this year's event was the 1979 women's Championship of America 4x800 meter relay team on the 40^th anniversary of their historic win, as well as several "Ladies of the 80's" who helped the foundation for the program's winning tradition. 
 
"I am fascinated more and more every year by the history of our program, and when we celebrated the 50^th anniversary of women's athletics at Villanova earlier this year I started looking at where we were in the early years of women's track & field," O'Sullivan said.  "Today is a day that I realized we are always on the cutting edge at Villanova.  We don't always have the resources or the capital projects, but we have the will.  I look at our history and I see why and how these women started to develop the program we have today.  The group was right, and they took some joy in it and had a little bit of fun too."
 
That first Championship of America title 40 years ago was the beginning of a legacy that few programs could even think of aspiring to.  When the Wildcats captured the 4x1500 meter relay this weekend for the fourth consecutive season, it represented the 43^rd all-time Championship of America win for the Villanova women's program.  That first team of champions included Jennifer Whitfield, Sue Shea, Brigid Leddy and Doriane Lambelet winning the 4x800 meter relay in 8:47.80.  They brought home a title in only the second year that women's relays were contested at the Championship of America level.
 
"It was a really interesting time," Shea said in her remarks at Saturday's breakfast.  "We had to prove ourselves and fight for what we deserved.  We weren't taken seriously but we could not let the cynicism of the time define as athletes.  It only fueled us to work harder.  For us and the other women here today, we feel we share something very special.  We came in different years, had different teammates and coaches, but we are all united and are part of an inner circle that nobody can take away from us."
 
The bond that connects the generations of Villanova student-athletes to each other goes far beyond athletic competition, and it was the early pioneers of the program who created a sustainable tradition of excellence.
 
"The most special part of running was the social events surrounding it," Leddy said.  "Thinking back to the early days of the women's program, I want to acknowledge Roberta Anthes from the Class of '77.  She was a very early strong distance runner and ran a lot on her own.  Sometimes she would have to hop the fence after track practice, and Jack Pyrah would encourage her to do it.  She was enthusiastic and passionate, and she helped to make possible the success of our future teams."
 
After the first Championship of America title in 1979 the Wildcats went on to win eight more championships during the 1980's, including what was then an unprecedented "distance triple" in 1989 when Villanova swept the 4x800 meter relay, the distance medley relay and the 4x1500 meter relay.  The feat was repeated again the next year, and the Wildcats now boast seven distance triples in their history.  Michell Bennett was a sophomore on the 1989 and ran legs of both the 4x800 meter relay and the distance medley relay that year.  She ran on champion distance medley relay teams in all four of her years at Villanova and was a part of seven Championship of America titles overall.  Bennett made remarks on behalf of the "Ladies of the 80's" who attended Saturday morning's event.
 
"I am so proud to be in this room with the '79 class," Bennett said.  "It is because of you that we are all here.  The 1980's were an amazing, amazing time for me and for the program.  Marcus pointed out that first distance triple.  I remember that Marty Stern sat down with us, four bright-eyed busy-tailed young ladies and told us we were going to win three.  We looked at each other like, 'did he just say that,' but we knew we had to achieve it.  We knew we had to go out there and do it.  As Villanovans we have that spirit about us that if we say we are going to do something, we do it."
 
Alumni gatherings during the week of Penn Relays have long been a tradition for Villanova, but it has only been in recent years that the annual breakfast has celebrated a certain theme.  O'Sullivan spoke about the importance of events such as this one. 
 
"It is hard to describe how all of this has happened over the years," O'Sullivan said.  "We tried different things that didn't work, and this is going back 20 years.  Last year we had a great opportunity with a group of guys from the 1960's to celebrate 50 years, and I credit them for creating the idea of a theme.  I hope as we go forward to introduce the extraordinary men and women from different periods of time in our program."