STORRS, Conn.—Senior distance runner Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) was the bronze medalist in the 5000 meters and led a trio of Villanova athletes who scored in the event as action continued in the 2025 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP on Friday night. The all-senior triumvirate of Sigfstead, Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) and Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) each scored in the 5K for the second straight outdoor BIG EAST meet.
 
The Wildcats have 28 team points and are in fourth place in the standings going into the final day of action which begins on Saturday morning. Just eight of the 22 events in the meet program have been scored and Villanova amassed 11 of their points from their three scorers in the 5K.
 
Sigfstead earned her seventh career All-BIG EAST honor and second in the 5000 meters. She began the weekend already in strong position to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary later this month in both the 5K and the 10000 meters, allowing her to run against the field rather than against the clock during the conference meet. Sigfstead was steady from start to finish in Friday's race and posted a time of 16:07.57. Carroll was fifth in 16:14.66 in her second race in as many days, while McGill was eighth with a time of 16:30.15.
 
This is the second straight year that Carroll has scored in both the 10K and the 5K at the BIG EAST Championships. Her performances over the past two nights have been particularly impressive however, as she has notched the best two individual finishes of her BIG EAST career in a span of 24 hours. Carroll lowered her PR in the 5K for the third time this season and crossed the finish line in 16:14.66 on Friday, one night after she cut nearly a minute off her 10K PR and finished in 34:17.69 on Thursday evening.
 
McGill led the field of runners in the 5K for the first 1200 meters before the race started to pick up and the runners strung out going into the second mile. Villanova finished 4-5-8 in the BIG EAST outdoor 5K last season with Sigfstead, McGill and Carroll placing in that order. Their results this year topped last season by one point.