BETHLEHEM, Pa.—From the moment the starting gun went off for the women's race at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Friday afternoon, junior Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) appeared to be running with a mission. The quick start not only paid off, it led to the second-fastest 6K cross country time in school history and Sigfstead's first carer regional title. She held off a charge from the runner-up from Georgetown coming down the home stretch and crossed the finish line in 19:35.5, a blistering pace on the Goodman Campus Course at Lehigh. Sigfstead and junior Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) are each individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championships next week.
 
Villanova finished fifth in a close race in the team standings at Friday's regional race. There were only 24 points separating the teams from third through fifth place and the Wildcats wound up with a team score of 128 in the 27-team field. Sigfstead, McGill and junior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) each earned Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors for finishing in the top 25 individually. This is the seventh time in the last eight seasons the regional has been held that Villanova has had at least three all-region performers. Sigfstead is the Wildcats fifth different runner since 2017 to be the Mid-Atlantic Regional champion.
 
It was a wire-to-wire win for Sigfstead, who put distance between herself and the rest of the field early in the race before finishing strong to hold onto her lead. Her time of 19:35.5 is second in the Villanova record book to the mark of 19:34 recorded by two-time national champion Sheila Reid. Her school record was also set at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and came at the 2010 edition of the meet held at Penn State.
 
Sigfstead and McGill became the ninth and 10^th runners in school history to break 20 minutes in a 6K cross country race. McGill had a big finish down the stretch of Friday's race to finish fourth overall in 19:49.2. She passed three runners in the final 2000 meters of the race, with those finishing spots being the difference to secure her spot as an individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships. Robinson moved up two spots in the final stretch of the race to move into all-region position, finishing 25^th overall in 20:45.7.
 
The five scorers for the Wildcats also included first year Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) and junior Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.). O'Connor had her strongest race of the season and came in 34^th overall in 20:52.5, while Carroll placed 66^th with a time of 21:24.8. The lineup was rounded out by senior Elizabeth Vaughn (Dayton, Ohio) and sophomore Kinsey Pogue (Danville, Calif.) who posted times of 21:31.5 and 21:38.9, respectively.
 
Sigfstead and McGill will now prepare for the NCAA Championships which take place next Saturday – November 18 – at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va.