COLUMBIA, Mo.—Villanova continued to show the depth of its roster on Friday morning with its latest sensational team performance in a season that is quickly becoming filled with them. A pair of top 20 finishers and a spread of less than 49 seconds between the team's top five runners sparked the Wildcats to a second place finish in the Pre-National Invitational at Gans Creek Cross Country Course. Villanova, ranked No. 19 in the country entering the meet, beat four other nationally ranked squads and finished behind only the top-ranked team in the nation, BYU, based on the most recent national polls.
Junior
Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) was the top runner in the Wildcats lineup for the first time in her career and came in 15
th overall in a field of nearly 350 runners. She recorded a time of 19:55.7 and crossed the finish line in under 20 minutes for her second straight race. The 6,000 meter course at the University of Missouri will host the NCAA Championships next month and Villanova will be vying for a team berth to the national meet. Results like the one on Friday, along with winning the Paul Short Run at Lehigh earlier this month, put the Wildcats in excellent position for a national bid.
O'Connor has been a stalwart in the Villanova lineup since the start of her collegiate career and has finished within the team's top five in eight of her 11 career starts. Friday was the first time that she placed at the top of the Wildcats lineup, although a team that is emerging on a national level is, more and more, looking like an ensemble cast after three straight invitational wins and Friday's runner-up finish to start the year. Graduate student
Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) also broke 20 minutes at the Pre-National meet and finished 19
th in 19:58.1.
Fifth year runner
Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.), sophomore
Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) and collegiate newcomer
Zoe Mosher (Pleasantville, N.S.) were Villanova's other scoring runners. Carroll finished 32
nd in 20:19.8 and ran near the lead pack for most of Friday's race. Shay came in 47
th with a time of 20:33.0 and Mosher was 65
th in 20:44.1. Mosher cut nearly a full minute off the time she recorded at the Paul Short Run two weeks ago and finished more than 100 spots higher in the individual standings.
The lineup for the Wildcats, which has still yet to feature returning All-American
Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) this season, has achieved success this Fall with a mix of veteran performers and talented young newcomers. Villanova had 10 runners in Friday's race, including a top three in O'Connor, Vanasse and Carroll who entered the day with a combined 43 career cross country starts. Shay was a top 25 BIG EAST finisher as a rookie last season, while Mosher was one of four newcomers in Friday's lineup.
Senior
Amelia Arrieta (Kansas City, Mo.), running in her home state for the first time in her collegiate career, finished 89
th with a time of 20:59.3. The top seven was rounded out by freshman
Cecilia Montagnese (Leetsdale, Pa.) who was 132
nd in 21:20.3 and she was followed by classmates
Sophia McInnes (Bayport, N.Y.) with a time of 21:28.8 and
Maeve Smith (Ocean City, N.J.) who posted a time of 21:36.8. Senior
Kinsey Pogue (Danville, Calif.) recorded a time of 21:53.0.
Prior to Friday's race the Wildcats had opened the 2025 season with first place finishes at the Temple Invitational, the Main Line Invitational and the Paul Short Run. The latter race earned Villanova it's No. 19 national ranking in the most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll. Top-ranked BYU finished first in the Pre-National Invitational on Friday, while the Wildcats came in ahead of No. 21 Missouri on the Tigers home course, as well as beating No. 3 Florida, No. 23 Boston College and No. 30 Tennessee.
Villanova's next test will come at the BIG EAST Championships on October 31 at Olsson Cross Country Course in Ashland, Neb.
