VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Junior sprinter Ethan Walls (Ridgefield, Conn.) paced a group of Villanova 400 meter runners with a season best time of 48.81 at the Indoor Pre-Nationals at the Virginia Beach Sports Center on Friday afternoon. The 400 meters was the only event on the Wildcats docket for the first day of the meet, with the 200 meters scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
 
Five of the six Villanova sprinters who competed on Friday tallied season bests in the 400 meters, including Walls who broke 49 seconds for the first time this year. He finished ninth out of 52 runners and was followed by senior Luke Rakowitz (Dallas, Texas) with a season best time of 49.06. Other finishers for the Wildcats included freshman Andy Geiser (Aldie, Va.) with a mark of 49.20 competing in his home state for the first time as a collegian.
 
The senior trio of Jimmy Milgie (Wildwood, Mo.), Sal Barretta (Whitestone, N.Y.) and Ronan O'Neill (Wilmette, Ill.) recorded times of 49.28, 50.20 and 50.39 to round out the Villanova results. Barretta, Geiser and Rakowitz join junior Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) in the 200 meters on Saturday.