NEW ORLEANS—Team finishes at the NCAA Championships in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field has earned Villanova a No. 15 finish in the final 2023-24 Program of the Year standings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday afternoon. This is the first time since 2018-19 that the Wildcats have garnered a spot in the final standings.
At the end of each academic year the USTFCCCA recognizes the men's and women's programs who recorded a team finish at the NCAA Championships in cross country in the Fall and then went on to score team points with at least one top-eight individual finish at the NCAA Championships held both indoors and outdoors on the track. This is the 10
th time in the
Marcus O'Sullivan coaching era that Villanova has earned a spot in the Program of the Year standings.
Last week's outdoor NCAA Championships wrapped up a phenomenal 2023-24 calendar for the Wildcats, who were the only BIG EAST school to tally a top-20 finish at any of the NCAA Championships during the past year. Villanova finished 20
th at the cross country championships in the Fall and tied for a 19
th place finish at the indoor track & field NCAA meet. Two teams from the BIG EAST appeared in the final Program of the Year standings.
This year was also the first time since 2018-19 that the Wildcats had a cross country All-American as well as at least one first team All-American both indoors and outdoors. Senior distance runner
Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) and the now-graduated
Haftu Strintzos (Melbourne, Australia) were each cross country All-Americans in the Fall, while Murphy went on to tally a fourth place finish in the 3000 meters at the indoor championships. Fifth year collegian
Sean Dolan (Ewing, N.J.) was a first team All-American both indoors (second) and outdoors (fifth) in the 800 meters.
In addition to their success on a national level, the Wildcats posted runner-up team finishes at the BIG EAST Championships in cross country and outdoor track & field as well as a third place team result at the indoor conference meet. Villanova won 11 individual event titles and produced a combined 22 podium finishes at the indoor and outdoor BIG EAST track & field meets, the latter of which the Wildcats hosted for the second straight year. That was to go along with Murphy winning the individual cross country title and the team earning five All-BIG EAST honors in the Fall.
Dolan and Murphy each set BIG EAST Championships meet records both indoors and outdoors. Dolan produced record performances in the 800 meters at the two meets while Murphy established new standards in the 3000 meters indoors and the 1500 meters outdoors.
