UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—When sophomore middle distance runner Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) ran the first indoor race of his collegiate career two weeks ago, he made his debut a memorable one by setting a school record in the 1000 meters. He has since doubled the number of collegiate indoor races he has run and still maintains the feat of setting a school record every time. The latest mark came on Friday night at the Penn State National Open as Watcke became the Villanova standard bearer in the 800 meters with an indoor school record time of 1:46.32 at Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
 
It is the third time in the last year that the Wildcats indoor record in the 800 meters has changed. Watcke takes ownership of the mark from his former Villanova teammate Sean Dolan, a seven-time All-American who set the program's indoor 800 meter mark on three occasions, including twice last season. He ran 1:46.90 in the final at last year's BIG EAST Championships in Chicago, Ill., with Watcke taking nearly six-tenths of a second off the mark at Penn State on Friday night. His time of 1:46.32 ranks fourth in the NCAA this season pending other meets around the country this weekend.
 
Watcke becomes the seventh Villanovan to ever run an 800 meter race with a time of 1:46.32 or faster. Only five of the seven – Watcke and Dolan, along with John Marshall, Don Paige and Mark Belger – have tallied their times during the collegiate indoor or outdoor seasons. Watcke will move from a tie for seventh place into sole possession of fifth place on the Wildcats all-time individual performance list.
 
The mechanics of Friday night's race showcased the raw depth of Watcke's talent. His split over the final 400 meters of the race – 54.06 – was nearly three-quarters of a second faster than any other runner in the field. He moved up two spots during that stretch and closed with a final lap of 26.97 which was 0.32 faster than anyone else. Watcke was just four-hundredths of a second behind a Penn State senior at the finish line and he came in nearly eight-tenths of a second faster than the third place finisher behind him.
 
Watcke wasn't the only Villanova athlete moving up on the program's all-time performance lists during Friday's events. Fifth year long jumper Justin Miller (Collierville, Tenn.) recorded a mark of 7.13 meters to move into 10^th place on the Wildcats all-time indoor list. He already ranked ninth in the Villanova record book both overall and outdoors with a personal best distance of 7.36 meters recorded last year. Miller's indoor PR of 7.13 meters (23-4 ¾) on Friday came on the last of his six attempts and displaces NCAA triple jump champion Nate Cooper from the program's indoor top 10 athletes. Miller also moved into fifth place on this year's BIG EAST performance list.
 
Friday's slate of results featured personal best times from junior Luke Rakowitz (Dallas, Texas) and sophomore Ethan Walls (Ridgefield, Conn.) in the 400 meters. Rakowitz posted a time of 48.22 to move up to fourth in the BIG EAST this season and lower his former PR from last outdoor season by a hundredth of a second. Walls registered his second PR in as many weeks with a time of 49.01.
 
Earlier in the afternoon, the duo of junior Amiri Prescod (Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) and sophomore Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) competed in the preliminary heats of the 60 meters. They posted virtually identical times of 6.91, with thousandths of a second being used to determine that Prescod crossed the line first (6.904) with Turner (6.906) behind him. Turner's time ties a personal best set last season and moves him into a three-way tie for seventh place in the BIG EAST based on the conference performance list entering the weekend.
 
Competition at Penn State continues Saturday with men's shot put at 11 a.m., followed later in the day by three events on the track (200 meters, 3000 meters, 4x400 meter relay).