JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—It will be a busy night on the track as men's competition wraps up on Friday at the 2025 NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville. There are six Villanova athletes competing tonight at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, including four who will run in the semifinal heats of the 5000 meters. All six runners who are in action for the Wildcats will be seeking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. next month.
4:15 PM
Men's 1500 Meters
Quarterfinals
Liam Murphy
Heat 2
Murphy came through the first round of the 1500 meters without any trouble on Wednesday evening. He finished second in his heat and third overall with a time of 3:40.00 to move on to tonight's quarterfinal heats. The top five finishers in each of two heats and the next two fastest times from Friday night's races will advance to Eugene. Murphy has qualified for the national championships in the 1500 meters in each of the last two years. Wednesday night's time of 3:40.00 in the first round marked his eighth career race with a time of 3:40 or lower.
6:05 PM
Men's 800 Meters
Quarterfinals
Dan Watcke
Heat 3
Watcke will have the benefit of knowing exactly what kind of time he needs to run in tonight's quarterfinal heats. The top three runners in each of three heats and the next three fastest times advance to the NCAA Championships, with Watcke slated to start in the final heat. He is seeking his first career outdoor appearance at the NCAA Championships after being a first team All-American indoors in the 800 meters.
The first round of the 800 meters on Wednesday night was particularly notable for Watcke, who was the only runner out of 48 competitors who posted a reverse split in his two laps around the track. Watcke went out in 53.86 and then had the fastest bell lap in the field with a split of 53.72, adding up to a final time of 1:47.58. He placed second in his heat and eighth overall in the first round. Watcke has an outdoor PR of 1:46.63 in the 800 meters and a lifetime PR of 1:46.32 recorded during the 2025 indoor campaign.
7:10 PM
Men's 5000 Meters
Semifinals
Marco Langon
Heat 1
The winner of three straight BIG EAST titles in the 5000 meters dating back to the 2024 outdoor conference meet, Langon will be seeking to return to the NCAA Championships in the 5K after competing nationally both outdoors last season and indoors earlier this year. He finished sixth indoors to tally the highest ever finish in the 5K by a Villanova runner at the indoor NCAA Championships, not to mention also placing seventh in the 3000 meters to earn a pair of first team All-America accolades.
Langon holds the second and third fastest times in school history in the 5K with nearly identical times of 13:14.11 and 13:14.16 recorded during the indoor campaign. He is coming off a record-setting race at the BIG EAST Championships where he set a meet record with a winning time of 13:27.21 at the University of Connecticut. In the Wildcats all-time record book Langon is second to Murphy, but his BIG EAST meet record broke Murphy's previous mark from two seasons ago.
7:25 PM (approximate)
Men's 5000 Meters
Devon Comber
Charlie Moore
CJ Sullivan
Heat 2
A troika of Villanova runners will follow Langon in the second heat of the 5000 meters. The top five runners in each heat and the next two fastest times move on to the NCAA Championships. Comber has the best seed time of the three runners with a PR of 13:36.28 from this year's Raleigh Relays which ranks him seventh on the Wildcats all-time performance list. Comber is no stranger to this meet, having run in the semifinal round of the 5000 meters last year and the first round of the 1500 meters in 2023.
Moore has made his collegiate debut for Villanova this outdoor season and posted a time of 13:48.94 at the Penn Relays. All three of his starts during the season have come in the 5K and he will be looking to continue his progression in his first career NCAA East Preliminary race. Moore is a previous Australian U20 gold medalist in the 5000 meters and was also an Australian U20 silver medalist in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Tonight's race will also mark the next step in the career ascension of Sullivan, who is quickly emerging as one of the fastest rising prospects within the Villanova program. He is coming off a PR of 13:45.02 in the 5K at the BIG EAST Championships where he was the runner-up to Langon in a 1-2 Wildcats sweep. Sullivan has recorded PRs in the 1500 meters, 3000 meters and 5000 meters during the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons.
