PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Junior distance runner Bailey Habler (Sydney, Australia) was already a metric sub-four miler from last year's outdoor track & field season, but he added his first career official sub-four time in a mile race at the Penn Elite on Saturday afternoon. Habler posted a time of 3:59.34 and recorded the team's top individual finish on a strong day of competition at The Ott Center. Graduate student Tristan Bolinsky (Gordon, Pa.) also starred for the Wildcats with a personal best in the weight throw.
 
Habler surged into third place on this year's BIG EAST performance list in the mile with his time of 3:59.34, erasing his old PR of 4:06.05 from the final of last year's conference championships. He had joined Villanova's hallowed list of sub-four milers last Spring when he ran 3:42.15 in the 1500 meters in Winston-Salem, N.C. Saturday was Habler's indoor season debut and first race since November 14 during the collegiate cross country campaign.
 
The duo of Habler and graduate student Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) each came into Saturday's meet as metric sub-four milers, Comber nearly went sub-four himself at Penn, finishing in 4:00.59 and toying with his lifetime mile PR of 4:00.24 which was set outdoors in 2023. Comber, like Habler, made his season debut with Saturday's competition.
 
Bolinsky came in third in the weight throw with a PR of 17.91 meters. He increased his lifetime best by 37 centimeters and remained in fourth place on the program's all-time performance list. Bolinsky is now just seven centimeters away from reaching one of the top 10 throws in Villanova history; he also strengthened his position in third place on the BIG EAST performance list for the current season.
 
Sophomore distance runner Jack Fenlon (Laois, Ireland) raced in the elite section of the 3000 meters and cut more than six seconds off his lifetime PR. Fenlon placed ninth in his race and crossed the finish line in 7:59.39. He broke eight minutes for the first time and beat the mark of 8:05.78 he had recorded in his native Ireland at the Belfast Milers Irish Meet outdoors in May 2024. Fenlon was last week's mile champion at the Quaker Invitational in a PR of 4:06.34.
 
Freshman thrower Yianni Papanikolas (Toms River, N.J.) moved into eighth place on the Wildcats all-time indoor performance list in the shot put with a mark of 16.11 meters. He surpassed 16 meters for the first time this season and sits one spot higher than Bolinsky (16.03m) on Villanova's indoor list in the shot put. Papanikolas also moved up a spot into third place in the BIG EAST this season.