EUGENE, Ore.—It was a successful outdoor NCAA Championships debut for junior distance runner Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) on Thursday night as she finished 12^th in the national championship race of the 10000 meters. Sigfstead posted a time of 33:18.63 in her first career race at Hayward Field and earned second team All-America honors for her performance.
 
Sigfstead qualified for the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships by finishing ninth in the national semifinal round in Lexington, Ky. two weeks ago. She improved her standing on the biggest of stages and was the sixth runner from the East region across the finish line in the national championship race. Sigfstead's overall finish of 12^th place put her in the top of the field of 24 runners who started the race. She is the third Villanova runner to earn All-America honors in the women's 10000 meters.
 
"This gives me good momentum going into cross country [in the Fall]," Sigfstead said. "Cross country is my favorite and, this year, coming here and having a lot of experience, I felt like I was learning so much while I was racing. It will help me so much more next year. I'm happy. I still have two more years of cross country and we're bringing in a lot of great athletes and recruits so that's exciting."
 
The time of 33:18.63 on Thursday night is the 11^th-fastest in school history and Sigfstead now owns three of the top 11 times in the Wildcats record book. All three of those top marks have been recorded this season, including the fifth-fastest VU time of 33:05.99 two weeks ago at the NCAA East Preliminary meet. Sigfstead moved up 15 spots at the regional meet from where she finished last year.
 
"I approached the race [at regionals] so much differently," Sigfstead said of her progression. "Last year I didn't go in with a lot of confidence and I kind of had some ups and downs for the season. This year I had very much a goal in mind of do-or-die and I have to make it [to nationals]. I put myself in front from the beginning of the race and just kind of let the race play out. All the runners were in it from start to finish but once those moves were made, I could go with the group instead of being so far back."
 
On Thursday night, Sigfstead settled into the middle of the pack early in the race and was able to maintain a steady pace throughout. Despite racing in a national championship on the track for the first time in her collegiate career, Sigfstead felt she was well-prepared for how the race might unfold.
 
"Me and my coach felt like [the race] was either going to go hard from the start or be really slow like you saw in the first lap where no one wanted to take it. I feel like we had strategies no matter how the race goes. I knew at some point someone would take it because someone always gets antsy. From the beginning I felt like I held back a little compared to the last race because it's warm and I was looking at the splits; we were already on a 33-minute pace. I knew it was a pretty decent pace and if I felt good I could pick it up. It's way better to be catching people than getting caught."
 
Thursday night's race caps off a terrific academic year for Sigfstead, who was the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional individual champion in the Fall and competed at her second national championship on the grass. During the indoor season, she became the first Villanova runner in 12 years to win the women's 5000 meters at the BIG EAST Championships. Sigfstead opened the outdoor campaign by running a personal best time of 32:45.56 in the 10K at the Raleigh Relays. The time is ranked second in school history.
 
Sigfstead's finish in the 10K marks her first collegiate All-America honor. Entering the 2024-25 seasons, she is a two-time BIG EAST champion and a five-time All-BIG EAST performer. She ranks second in school history in the 10K and fourth in the 5000 meters.
 
There is plenty to come for the Wildcats on the final two days of competition at the NCAA Championships. The final night of men's competition is on Friday and Villanova will have three runners in contention for national titles. First up is senior Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) in the final of the 1500 meters at 9:12 p.m. Eastern time (6:12 p.m. PT), followed by fifth year collegian Sean Dolan (Ewing, N.J.) in the championship race of the 800 meters at 10:14 p.m. Eastern (7:14 p.m. PT) and sophomore Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) running in the national championship race of the 5000 meters (10:55pm ET / 7:55pm PT). All three races can be seen on ESPN2.
 
On Saturday, women's competition concludes with senior Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) in the high jump championship. The event will be streamed live on ESPN+.