VILLANOVA, Pa.—The field of declared athletes for the 2025 NCAA East Preliminary meet was announced on Thursday afternoon and Villanova had eight men's athletes selected for the competition. Highlighting the Wildcats entries are the NCAA record holder and top qualifier in the 1500 meters as well as five runners who will run in the 5000 meters. The East Prelims take place at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. from May 28-31 and will feature men's competition on the first and third days of the meet.
 
This is only the second time since the current format of East and West preliminary competition began in 2010 that Villanova has had as many as five qualifiers in a single event. The meet serves as the early rounds of competition for the NCAA Championships, with the national semifinal round of the 5000 meters scheduled for the evening of Friday, May 30. Running in that round for the Wildcats will be the quintet of junior Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.), redshirt freshman Bailey Habler (Sydney, Australia), senior Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.), redshirt freshman CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) and freshman Charlie Moore (Brisbane, Australia).
 
Each of Langon, Habler and Comber rank in the top 15 of the 48 runners who will compete in the semifinal round of the 5K next Friday night. Langon advanced to the NCAA Championships in this event last season. Comber is competing at the East Prelims for the third straight year and the second time in the 5K, while the trio of Habler, Sullivan and Moore are all qualifiers in their first year of collegiate action. The top five finishers in each of two semifinal heats and the next two fastest times will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. from June 11-14.
 
The only previous instance of Villanova qualifying five athletes for a single event at the NCAA East Prelims was in 2015 when the Wildcats had five runners in the 1500 meters. The group that year included Rob Denault, Josh Lampron, Jordy Williamsz, Dusty Solis and Sam McEntee. It was as strong a group of Villanova distance runners as could be assembled, as the quintet combined for 20 career All-America honors.
 
This year's selections feature fifth year Wildcats record-breaker Liam Murphy (Millstone, N.J.) who earlier this year set the all-time NCAA record in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:33.02 at the Raleigh Relays. He captured his second straight BIG EAST title in the 1500 meters last weekend in a tune-up for the NCAA meets and will be trying to reach Eugene and the NCAA Championships for a third straight year. He advanced to the national championship race in the 1500 meters in each of the past two seasons and also made it to the final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last summer.
 
Sophomore middle distance runner Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) qualified for the East Prelims in the 800 meters for the second straight year. He reached the national quarterfinal round as a collegiate rookie last season. Watcke has already shown what he is capable of in a big way in 2025, earning first team All-America honors indoors with a fifth place national finish in the 800 meters and more recently recording an outdoor PR of 1:46.63 at the BIG EAST Championships last weekend.
 
Villanova will have one field athlete in competition in Jacksonville as fifth year Justin Miller (Collierville, Tenn.) is a qualifier in the long jump. Miller's personal best mark of 7.57 meters earlier this outdoor season puts him sixth in school history in the long jump. He will be competing at the East Prelims for the first time in his career and is riding the momentum of focusing exclusively on the long jump as his top event this year. Miller previously competed in the multis at Memphis earlier in his undergraduate career, as well as in both the long jump and the javelin in his Wildcats debut season last year.
 
This is the eighth time in the last 12 years that the NCAA East Prelims are being hosted in Jacksonville at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+.