BETHLEHEM, Pa.—Senior Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) defended his NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional individual title and combined with fifth year Haftu Strintzos (Melbourne, Australia) for a 1-2 finish as the Villanova men's cross country team punched its ticket for a return trip to the NCAA Championships. The story of the day at Friday afternoon's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional race had as much to do with the way the entire Wildcats lineup stepped up as it did with the top two finishes. All five of the Villanova scorers placed in the top 25 overall to earn Mid-Atlantic All-Region accolades.
 
It all added up to a second place finish with 73 team points for the Wildcats, who held off Georgetown by four points to claim an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. The top two teams at each of nine regionals around the country earned those highly-coveted spots, while 13 more teams will be chosen for at-large selections. Villanova's lineup included Murphy, Strintzos, fifth year Ryan Kredell (Geneva, Ill.), sixth year Henry Myers (Portland, Ore.), junior Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) and sophomore Jack Tavaglione (Califon, N.J.).
 
Murphy won the individual Mid-Atlantic Regional title for the second straight year. His winning time of 29:05.5 on the Goodman Campus Course is the second-fastest in school history behind only a school record time which is held by Strintzos and was set at the NCAA Championships two years ago. Strintzos was the runner-up to Murphy in Friday's race in 29:14.7, with that time now slotting into fourth in the Wildcats record book.
 
The trio of Kredell, Myers and Comber were separated by just 10 seconds at the finish line. Kredell came in 21^st overall in 30:06.5, followed by Myers in 24^th place (30:09.7) and Comber who placed 25^th (30:16.9). Comber came in two spots and eight seconds ahead of the fifth runner from Georgetown; his finish was the difference in the team scores which secured Villanova's second place finish and automatic NCAA qualifying berth. The Wildcats have counted on Tavaglione in each of the last two races at the BIG EAST Championships and today's regional meet. His 38^th place finish in 30:48.0 was a strong step up in showcasing his potential after he redshirted his freshman season a year ago.
 
Murphy and Strintzos are the first Villanova teammates to finish 1-2 at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional since Patrick Tiernan and Sam McEntee in 2013. This is the fourth straight season that the Wildcats have had at least five of their runners earn individual Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors. Strintzos is a four-time all-region honoree and Murphy now has three all-region accolades.
 
This year's NCAA Championships take place at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. on November 18. Villanova placed 19^th in the team standings at last year's national meet to post its highest finish in 10 years.