MADISON, Wis.—In a field that featured 23 of this week's 30 nationally-ranked teams competing in the same race, Villanova finished in front of two top-five squads and placed eighth overall in the men's championship race at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday afternoon. Senior Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) led the Wildcats with a 21^st place individual finish and posted a time of 23:52.8 over 8,000 meters on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
 
Villanova was in good company with its finish in the team standings. Nine of the top 10 teams in Friday's race are ranked in the top 20 of this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll. Three of the teams that finished ahead of the Wildcats are ranked in the top six this week – Villanova is No. 7 – and there were 23 ranked teams in all out of the 36 squads that competed in Friday's race.
 
Only the three postseason meets remain on the 2023 schedule, making the results from Wisconsin even more notable. In addition to coming in ahead of No. 4 Wisconsin on its home course and finishing ahead of No. 5 North Carolina, the Wildcats also outkicked three other BIG EAST teams while finishing eighth overall with a team score of 373. The other conference schools at the meet included Georgetown in 23^rd place, Butler finishing 24^th and Providence placing 34^th in the field.
 
The five scoring runners for Villanova had a spread of just 34 seconds at the finish line, a testament both to the depth of the team's lineup and to a field of 280 runners which stayed tightly packed throughout the 8K race. Murphy was followed across the finish line by fifth year Haftu Strintzos (Melbourne, Australia) in 52^nd place with a time of 24:07.7. Fifth year Ryan Kredell (Geneva, Ill.) came in 77^th overall (24:16.5), while sophomore Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) and fifth year Xian Shively (Glendale, Calif.) were also in the top half of finishers with times of 24:24.9 and 24:26.8, respectively.
 
Rounding out the top seven in the Wildcats lineup were sixth year Jack Fredian (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and junior Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) who registered times of 24:52.8 and 24:56.4.
 
Later in the day three Villanova runners competed in the B race, with that contingent led by sixth year Henry Myers (Portland, Ore.) who placed 55^th overall with a time of 25:59.4. Sophomore Jack Tavaglione (Califon, N.J.) registered a time of 26:27.0 in that race and senior Cole Walker (Chadds Ford, Pa.) finished in 26:42.6.
 
Villanova has looked strong this season against stiff competition at the Virginia Invitational last month and today's Nuttycombe race in Madison which was run in steady rain and cool, damp conditions. Later this month the Wildcats will travel back to Wisconsin for the BIG EAST Championships which take place on Saturday, October 28 at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha.