VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—All three Villanova men's qualifiers will be in action on Friday night as competition begins at the 2025 NCAA Men's and Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. Sophomore middle distance runner Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) is first up for the Wildcats in the preliminary heats of the 800 meters, followed by the duo of fifth year Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) and junior Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) in the 5000 meter championship race later in the night.
 
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
7:50pm – Men's 800 Meters (Preliminary Heats)
Dan Watcke runs in the first of two heats, with the top three finishers in each heat and the next two fastest times advancing on to Saturday's championship race.
 
8:12pm – Men's 5000 Meters (Final)
Liam Murphy and Marco Langon will each be in action in the final of the 5K less than 20 minutes after the end of the 800 meter heats. The pair of Wildcats own the two fastest times in school history in the 5K, with Murphy holding the school record at 13:10.42 and Langon right behind him with a PR of 13:14.11.
 
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
6:30pm – Men's 800 Meters (Final)
The eight qualifiers for the national championship race in the 800 meters will be on the track at 6:30pm on Saturday evening. It would be the first career championship final for Dan Watcke in a Villanova singlet if he advances out of the preliminary heats on Friday night.
 
7:00pm – Men's 3000 Meters (Final)
Liam Murphy and Marco Langon will be back on the track for a second straight night in the 3000 meters. They hold the same distinction in the 3K as they do in the 5000 meters as the top two runners in school history. Murphy set the school record of 7:35.47 earlier this year and Langon ran 7:36.87 in the same race.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE
This weekend's NCAA Championships can be seen live on ESPN+ via the links at the top of this release. Live results are also linked in the release and are provided by Flash Results.
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
This year marks the 60^th edition if the indoor NCAA Championships, which were first held in 1965. Villanova has scored team points at the meet in 48 of the 59 previous years the meet was held, which is tied for the fourth most 'scoring seasons' in men's championship history.
 
Villanova has won 36 track events all-time at the indoor NCAA Championships, including 24 individual races and 12 relays. The most recent titles for the Wildcats came in 2003 (distance medley relay) and 2002 (3000 meters, Adrian Blincoe and distance medley relay).
 
VETERAN PERFORMERS
Liam Murphy and Marco Langon were each All-Americans at last year's indoor NCAA Championships. Murphy earned first team accolades for a fourth place finish in the 3000 meters, while Langon was a second team All-American after placing 14^th in the same event. Seven of the 16 competitors from last year's 3K final return to the event this season, including two of the top four finishers from 2024 in runner-up Parker Wolfe of North Carolina along with Liam Murphy.