BOSTON, Mass.—The school record in the men's 5,000 meters fell for the second time in as many years at the same meet as senior Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) ran to a time of 13:05.21 on Saturday afternoon in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. It was last year at this meet that Langon and teammate Liam Murphy broke the previous Villanova absolute record in the 5,000 meters which had stood for 45 years. Langon takes over as the Wildcats standard bearer in the event after Saturday's race. His time will rank No. 7 on the all-time collegiate indoor list of top times.
 
Langon showcased the grittiness that has made him one of the most recognizable names among the nation's top distance runners. He dove towards the finish line in a dead heat with Habtom Samuel of New Mexico and the pair could only be separated by thousandths of a second. Both runners were listed with times of 13:05.21 and even an extra decimal point could barely distinguish the difference. Samuel finished with a time of 13:05.203 to Langon's 13:05.207. They each passed Gary Martin from Virginia in the final straightaway and held off Martin (13:05.57) by just over a third of a second at the finish line.
 
Saturday's race was Langon's first since he last lowered his PR in the 5K to 13:12.89 in Belgium in July. He also competed in a mile race in Ireland earlier in the month but was back in a collegiate race for the first time since the conclusion of the outdoor NCAA Championships on June 13. Langon now owns four of the five fastest all-seasons times and five of the top eight marks in school history in the 5K. His four fastest races have all been below 13:15 and Saturday's result in Boston nudges him ever closer to breaking the 13-minute mark.
 
In the past several years the Sharon Colyear-Danville meet has become a fixture nationally on the early season indoor track & field calendar. Many of the top collegiate distance runners are in peak form coming out of cross country season and are primed to put up top times on the track which can stand up for NCAA Championships qualifying later in the season.
 
Langon was not the only Villanova runner at the meet to impact the school's all-time performance list in the 5,000 meters. Junior CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) recorded an indoor PR of 13:49.15 to move into eighth place on the Wildcats all-time indoor performance list. The time is the third-fastest of his career overall and lowered his indoor PR by nearly nine full seconds.
 
The sophomore duo of Charlie Moore (Brisbane, Australia) and Jack Fenlon (Laois, Ireland) each ran the first indoor races of their Villanova careers. Moore posted a time of 13:53.12 and Fenlon came in with a time of 14:34.82. Junior Nick Sullivan (Middletown, N.J.) was also in action for the Wildcats and recorded a mark of 14:52.67.