Men's Track & Field 2/7/2021 12:02:00 AM

Dolan Sets Facility Record in 1000 Meters at Army West Point

Loewen notches collegiate personal best in shot put at Wildcats first competition of the season

WEST POINT, N.Y.—Redshirt freshman Sean Dolan (Ewing, N.J.) set a facility record at Gillis Field House and senior thrower Billy Loewen (Sparta, N.J.) recorded a collegiate personal best in the shot put as Villanova took on Army West Point in a dual meet on Saturday afternoon. The competition was the first of the season for the Wildcats, who won a total of five events during the meet.

Dolan paced a field of eight runners in the 1000 meters with a winning time of 2:24.40. The mark is also a new personal best, beating his high school time of 2:25.39. It was also a successful day for Loewen, who tallied a mark of 15.48 meters in the shot put. The veteran member of the Villanova throwing group had cleared 15 meters three times last season, topping out at 15.46 meters in the Villanova Invitational nearly one year ago to the day (Feb. 1, 2020).

Senior high jumper Jacob Kelly (Longmeadow, Mass.) and junior triple jumper Malik Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) recorded victories in their respective events. Kelly cleared 2.03 meters in the high jump and Cunningham measured a distance of 14.65 meters in the triple jump. Another of the Wildcats upperclassmen, senior sprinter Keegan Hughes (Malvern, Pa.), won the 500 meters in 1:05.36.

It was a 1-2-3 sweep for the Wildcats in the 500 meters, with freshman Nicholas Mollica (Jackson, N.J.) and sophomore Mac Costonis (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) following him in 1:07.17 and 1:08.64, respectively. The other event winner was freshman sprinter Zack Novak (Jackson, N.J.) who won the 400 meters in 50.53. He and Mollica made their collegiate debuts after running as high school teammates on a 4x400 meter relay squad which earned All-America honors and won a Millrose Games title.

OTHER MEET HIGHLIGHTS

Junior middle distance runner Nick Ackerman (Manalapan, N.J.) cut nearly 10 seconds off his previous personal best in the Mile and came in third in his race on Saturday with a time of 4:15.34.

Freshman sprinter Jace MacConnell (Dallas, Texas) and first-year triple jumper Carmen Ostroski (Blue Bell, Pa.) made their collegiate debuts for Villanova … MacConnell posted times of 7.11 in the 60 meters and 23.28 in the 200 meters, while Ostroski recorded a mark of 13.35 meters in the triple jump.