MADISON, Wis.—Sophomore Charlie Moore (Brisbane, Australia) led the Villanova lineup for the second straight race and the Wildcats had a spread of less than 52 seconds between their five scoring runners at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday afternoon. Moore posted a time of 24:42.6 over 8,000 meters on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in a race that featured 18 nationally ranked teams in a field of 32 squads overall.
 
Less than 10 seconds separated Moore and junior CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) at the finish line. Moore was 131^st overall in a field of 230 runners and Sullivan finished 145^th with a time of 24:52.5. Junior Bailey Habler (Sydney, Australia) was third in the Villanova lineup with a time of 25:00.9, followed by graduate student Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) and sophomore Jack Coomber (Brisbane, Australia) with times of 25:14.7 and 25:34.4, respectively.
 
Four of the five scorers for the Wildcats were the same as at the Paul Short Run two weeks ago, while Comber moved back into the lineup for the first time this season after missing the Paul Short race. Villanova is continuing to round into form for the Fall season with a lineup that featured five runners who are in their first or second year of collegiate cross country eligibility. That includes Moore, who arrived on campus in January of this year and made his official collegiate debut last Spring during the outdoor track & field season.
 
Sophomore Ben Thomas (Sydney, Australia) recorded a time of 26:14.6 in Friday's race and graduate student Sean Donoghue (Dublin, Ireland) rounded out the team's lineup with a time of 28:01.1.
 
Over the last several years the Nuttycombe meet has become a fixture in the midseason cross country calendar and one which tends to attract the top teams nationally. That was true of Friday's stacked field of teams which gave the Wildcats their strongest test yet as postseason competition looms on the remaining season schedule. Villanova finished 30^th in the team standings on Friday and will next race at the BIG EAST Championships on October 31 at Olsson Cross Country Course in Ashland, Neb.