VILLANOVA, Pa.—Freshman men's distance runner
Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) is set to compete on a world stage Saturday afternoon in Australia when he runs in the
World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23. Langon is one of six runners who will represent the United States in the Men's U20 race which goes off at 4:50 p.m. local time (12:50 a.m. Eastern time in the USA). Langon is not the only Villanovan at the world championships, as women's alumna
Emily Lipari will run in the Senior Women's race starting at 5:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. Eastern time).
WHERE TO WATCH
The WXC Bathurst 23 will be streamed live in a number of territories on the World Athletics
YouTube and
Facebook channels. The livestream will not be available in all territories. In the United States there will be broadcast coverage on CNBC and Peacock.
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MEET PREVIEW
Langon was chosen for the United States team based on his performance at the USATF Cross Country Championships last month. He came in third in the U20 Men's division at the national championships and posted a time of 23:53.8 over 8,000 meters at Pole Green Park in Richmond. Langon led the race with a kilometer to go and was at or near the front of the pack of runners for the entire race, leaving nothing to chance in a competition where the top six finishers would be selected to advance to the World Athletics meet.
"I am thrilled for Marco to have the opportunity to compete at the world championships," Villanova head coach
Marcus O'Sullivan said in an interview following the USATF Championships. "This is a huge deal for him to achieve the result that he did and especially considering that it was as tough a field of competitors as I can remember. It is impressive for Marco to reach this level at such a young age."
There were plenty of signs during the collegiate cross country season last Fall that Langon was ready and capable of stepping up to an international level of racing. His first race of the season came as an unattached runner at the Main Line Invitational on September 16 and he won the four-mile race in 19:13.4 while posting a nearly 10-second margin of victory.
His official Villanova debut came at the Paul Short Run two weeks later where he ran a personal best 8K time of 23:49.4. Langon went on to be a second team All-BIG EAST selection and a Mid-Atlantic All-Region performer for a Wildcats squad which won BIG EAST and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional titles on the way to reaching the NCAA Championships. Villanova posted its best team finish at the national meet in eight years with a 19
th place result.
Prior to coming to Villanova for his collegiate career, Langon was the New Jersey scholastic cross country champion last year when he recorded a seven-second margin of victory at the state championships. He was the No. 3 all-time All-American at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals and was selected as the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year in cross country and track & field.
Lipari is one of the top runners in Villanova history and was a two-time NCAA champion for the Wildcats during her collegiate career from 2011-14. She was a 10-time All-American, including in back-to-back years in cross country in 2012 and 2013, and won NCAA titles in the mile (2014) and as part of the Villanova lineup in the distance medley relay (2011). Lipari also won 14 BIG EAST titles and was a 20-time All-BIG EAST performer.
As a senior in 2013, Lipari was the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year in cross country. She won that year's individual title at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, was the runner-up at the BIG EAST Championships and went on to tally a career-best fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Last month at the USATF Cross Country Championships, Lipari finished fourth in the Women's race with a time of 32:31.7 over 10,000 meters. Her highlights over the past year include winning a silver medal in the 10,000 meters (33:54.61) at the NACAC Championships in August 2022 and finishing first in the USA 1 Mile Road Running Championships (4:33.0h) in Des Moines, Iowa last April.
