CHICAGO, Ill.—Graduate distance runners Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) and Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) combined for Villanova's first indoor 1-2 finish in the women's 5000 meters in 26 years and the Wildcats won gold in the distance medley relay with a lineup that included sophomore Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.), senior Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.), junior Therese Trainer (Havertown, Pa.) and junior Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) on Friday evening.
 
Villanova scored 31 points on the first day of competition at the 2026 BIG EAST Indoor Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP, led by three scorers in the 5000 meters along with the DMR gold and a point in the weight throw. The team also qualified six runners for the final in their respective events during preliminary heats earlier on Friday. Sigfstead, Carroll and freshman Zoe Mosher (Pleasantville, N.S.) were the scorers in the 5K, and freshman thrower Jess Bentum (Deptford, N.J.) finished eighth in the weight throw.
 
It was not your average 5K race that eventually resulted in Sigfstead and Carroll being the first two runners across the finish line. Sigfstead went out to a big lead right from the starting gun, lapped the field by the middle of the race and then settled in to pace the lead pack of competitors while still running a lap ahead of them. Her winning time of 15:44.02 is an indoor PR and the seventh-fastest indoor 5K race ever by a Wildcats runner. She won her second career gold medal in the event, adding to her indoor championship two years ago. The last two Wildcats to combine for a 1-2 indoor BIG EAST finish in the 5K were Carrie Tollefson and Ann McGranahan in 2000.
 
Carroll is now a six-time All-BIG EAST performer during her collegiate career, with her second-place finish in 16:22.46 on Friday marking her highest career individual conference finish. She began the day already ranked ninth indoors in school history and atop this year's BIG EAST leaderboard with a PR of 16:01.51 set in Boston earlier in the season. Carroll and Sigfstead are two of the five athletes this weekend who are doing the 5K/3K double. Mosher placed seventh with a time of 16:57.08 as Villanova amassed 19 points in the event.
 
The lineup of Shay, Trusty, Trainer and O'Connor led wire-to-wire in the women's distance medley relay and held off runner-up Providence by more than two seconds at the finish line. It is the 19^th gold medal for Villanova in the DMR and the ninth time in the last 10 years that the Wildcats have medaled in the race. The result made for an impressive BIG EAST Championships debut for Trainer, the seventh career conference medal for Trusty, and a continuation of the incredible seasons that Shay and O'Connor have been authoring over the past few months.
 
Shay opened Friday's race with a split of 3:29.67 for the first 1200 meters and was nearly a full second ahead of Providence leadoff runner Gemma Galvin at the first handoff. Trusty split 56.33 on her two laps around the oval at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center at Gately Park before giving the baton to Trainer with Villanova in front by over a second and DePaul in second place.
 
Trainer had a split of 2:13.33 on her 800 meter leg with the Friars closing ground heading into the start of the anchor leg. O'Connor ran just in front of Providence anchor Kate Currie until pulling away and coasting to the win in the final lap. She wound up with a split of 4:41.49 for the final 1600 meters.
 
A talented trio of first year collegiate throwers showcased the bright future of a young Wildcats roster this year. Bentum and classmate Jane Carey (Webster, N.Y.) each exceeded their BIG EAST ranking entering the meet, while Carey and Kiera Christensen (Alexandria, Minn.) established new personal bests with their results on Friday. Bentum passed Carey on her final throw and finished in eighth place with a mark of 14.85 meters, while Carey was ninth (14.55m) and Christensen came in 13^th (13.73m).
 
In the preliminary heats contested on Friday afternoon, junior sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) and sophomore distance runner Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) were the fastest qualifiers in their respective events. Allen cruised to a time of 54.08 in the 400 meters, while Walsh and graduate student Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) were heat winners in the mile. Walsh won the first heat in 4:45.18 and freshman Cecilia Montagnese (Leetsdale, Pa.) advanced on time out of that section with a PR of 4:53.37. Vanasse won the second heat in 4:51.85.
 
Freshman Sophia McInnes (Bayport, N.Y.) and junior Caelen O'Leary (Taunton, Mass.) each qualified for the final in the 800 meters. They each ran in the second of two preliminary sections, with McInnes auto qualifying in 2:12.42 and O'Leary advancing on time on 2:13.48.
 
In other events contested on Friday, freshman Mariana Lopez del Valle (Tampa, Fla.) recorded a personal best of 5.46 meters in the long jump which put her into fourth place after the first round of jumps. Ranked 11^th in the conference entering the meet, she qualified for the final and wound up beating her ranking by two spots with a ninth place finish.