VILLANOVA, Pa.—Saturday is going to be an action-packed day on both coasts for the Villanova track & field and cross country teams. The start of the indoor season brings competition in Boston and Philadelphia, while members of both the men's and women's cross country teams along with a pair of Wildcats alums will be in action at the USATF Cross Country Championships in Portland, Ore. The timeline of the three events spans from 11:30 a.m. until just after 9 p.m. Eastern time.
 

Penn Opener	Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener	USATF Cross Country Championships
Philadelphia, Pa.	Boston, Mass.	Portland, Ore.
The Ott Center	Track & Tennis Center	Glendoveer Golf Course
Watch Live	Watch Live	Watch Live
Live Results	Live Results	Live Results
First VU Event: 11:30am (Women's WT)	First VU Event: 12:55pm (Women's 3000m)	3:55pm ET (12:55pm PT): Open Men's 10K Championship
W2W4: 3:50pm (Women's 1000m)	W2W4: 4:13pm (Men's Elite 5000m)	5:50pm ET (2:50pm PT): U20 Men's 8K Championship
Last VU Event: 5:30pm (Women's 4x400m Relay)	Last VU Event: 8:47pm (Men's 5000m)	6:30pm ET (3:30pm PT): U20 Women's 6K Championship

Marco Langon Is Back!
Coming off a redshirt season in cross country, senior distance runner Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) makes his highly anticipated season debut running the 5,000 meters in Boston. The elite field for the men's 5K is scheduled for 4:13 p.m. and can be seen live on FloTrack. Langon has junior eligibility in all three seasons (cross country, indoor, outdoor) after this year's cross country redshirt, giving him one more Fall season and two more indoor and outdoor collegiate seasons of eligibility.
 
Whenever the top distance runners in the country get together for a race like the one expected on Saturday, records of all kinds are in jeopardy. Langon already holds four of the 12 fastest times in school history in the 5K and recorded his PR of 13:14.11 at this meet last year. The school record of 13:10.42 was set in the same race by Liam Murphy.
 
There have only been three races in history in all seasons and all conditions in which a collegiate runner has broken 13 minutes in the 5,000 meters. Tomorrow's field of runners will be looking to add to that list and threaten the all-time NCAA and collegiate absolute record of 12:57.14 which was set on January 27, 2024 on the same surface at Boston University's Track & Tennis Center.
 
Women's Distance Runners Open Indoor Season
After an incredible season in cross country which ended with a top 25 finish at the NCAA Championships last month, several of the Wildcats distance runners will open their track & field campaigns on Saturday afternoon and evening. The first event of the day to keep an eye on is the women's 3000 meters in Boston where graduate student Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) and sophomore Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) will be in action. They are running in the two fastest seeded heats (Vanasse, Heat 1; Shay, Heat 2) of the 3K outside of the elite field.
 
Midway through the afternoon, graduate student Lizzie Martell (Essex Junction, Vt.) leads a group of four Villanova runners in the 1,000 meters in Philadelphia, while later in the meet first year collegian Sophia McInnes (Bayport, N.Y.) makes her track & field debut in the 3000 meters. The night concludes back in Boston with the trio of junior Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.), graduate student Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) and senior Amelia Arrieta (Kansas City, Mo.) all running the 5,000 meters.
 
Men's Distance Runners to Watch
Villanova has entries in the seeded sections of both the 3,000 meters and the 5,000 meters in Boston. Sophomore Ben Thomas (Sydney, Australia) gets the day started for the men's distance group with his 3K race at 1:40 p.m., while later in the night the 5K will feature the quartet of Charlie Moore (Brisbane, Australia), CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.), Jack Fenlon (Laois, Ireland) and Nick Sullivan (Middletown, N.J.).
 
USATF Cross Country Championships
First year Villanova runners Ryan Schmitt (Holmdel, N.J.) and Maeve Smith (Ocean City, N.J.) are each qualifiers for the U20 races at the cross country championships in Portland, Ore. The men's 8,000-meter race is first at 5:50 p.m. Eastern time (2:50 p.m. Pacific), followed by the women's 6,000 meters at 6:30 p.m. Eastern (3:30 Pacific).
 
Schmitt and Smith will each be competing for the chance to represent the United States at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships which take place on American soil in Tallahassee, Fla., next month. Smith is coming off a strong collegiate debut season in the Fall with five starts during the collegiate season, including at the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Championships. Her top time on the season was 21:03.6 at the Paul Short Run.
 
Villanova alums Ryan Cutter and Liam Murphy will each be running in the Open Men's 10K championship at 3:55 p.m. Eastern (12:55 p.m. Pacific). Murphy is in his first year in the professional ranks after wrapping up his collegiate career at the outdoor NCAA Championships earlier this year. He was a two-time All-American in cross country during his collegiate career and finished ninth at the NCAA Championships in 2024. His nine total All-America honors and 12 career BIG EAST titles both tied the most ever by a Wildcat men's athlete.
 
Field Athletes Make Season Debut
Six members of the Villanova throwing group will be in action at the Penn meet, beginning with the women's weight throw on Saturday morning when Jane Carey (Webster, N.Y.) and Kiera Christensen (Alexandria, Minn.) are each expected to make their collegiate debuts.
 
The men's weight throw and shot put come up later in the day. Sophomore Joe A'damo (Nanuet, N.Y.) is the Wildcats only entry in the weight throw, while the trio of senior Liam Anderson (Lebanon, N.J.), junior Jonathan Evans (Springfield, Va.) and sophomore Chris Coulter (Philadelphia, Pa.) compete in the shot put.