Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Member of the Villanova sprint group from 2015-19 and was one of the team's top performers during his career ... Three-time first team All-American as part of the Wildcats distance medley relay indoors ... Four-time BIG EAST champion and 12-time All-BIG EAST performer ... His conference titles included two individual crowns in the 400 meters and two as part of the team's 4x400 meter relay ... As of the end of the 2019 outdoor season ranked second in school history in the 600 meters, ninth in the 500 meters and seventh indoors in the 400 meters ... Also had been a part of distance medley relay squads which owned two of the top seven indoor times in the Villanova record book.
 

2019: Was limited to two races during the indoor season; Dr. Sander Invitational/Columbia Challenge (1/26): Recorded a sixth place finish in the 600 meters with a time of 1:19.42 ... The time is the sixth-fastest in the Villanova record book; David Hemery Valentine Invite (2/9): Placed 11th in the 400 meters with a time of 48.35.

2018: First team All-American as part of the Wildcats lineup in the distance medley relay ... Won the BIG EAST title in the 400 meters and helped lead Villanova to the conference crown in the 4x400 meter relay ... Competed at a total of seven meets during the indoor campaign; Jack Pyrah Invitational (12/2): Opened the season by winning the 500 meters with a time of 1:03.39; Nittany Lion Challenge (1/13): Ran the 600 meters in 1:17.85 and notched the second-fastest time in the event in school history ... The only faster 600 meters time in the Villanova record book is the school record which was set in 1985 ... Also ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the Penn State meet ... Posted a split of 49.03 for his leg of the race and Villanova recorded a third place finish with a time of 3:13.38; Columbia Challenge (1/26-1/27): Ran in the college section of the 500 meters on the first night of the meet and was the runner-up in his section with a personal best time of 1:02.35 ... That mark put him into ninth place on the all-time Villanova performance list in the event ... Ran the second leg of the 4x400 relay ... His split of 48.31 was the fastest on the team and the Wildcats placed third in the relay with a time of 3:15.98; Villanova Invitational (2/3): Recorded a first place finish in the 400 meters with a winning time of 47.80 and anchored the 4x400 meter relay squad to a third place finish and a time of 3:18.68 at the Wildcats home meet; UCS Invitational (2/16): Had a split of 1:49.57 on the 800 meter leg of the distance medley relay ... Villanova came in third in the race with a time of 9:37.30, with that mark being converted to 9:29.56 based on the flat surface ... The converted time qualified the Wildcats for the NCAA Championships later in the season; BIG EAST Championships (2/23-2/24): Helped lead Villanova to its fourth team title in five years at the indoor conference meet ... Won the 400 meter title individually and was part of a conference championship in the 4x400 relay ... Recorded a winning time of 47.49 in the final of the 400 meters after ranking third in the preliminary heats with a time of 48.85 ... Ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay in 47.65 and Villanova went on to post a winning time of 3:12.84; NCAA Championships (3/9): Earned first team All-America honors as part of the Wildcats distance medley relay team for the third straight year ... Had a split of 1:49.51 over 800 meters on his leg of the DMR and Villanova finished eighth with a time of 9:35.49 at the national meet.

2017: Competed at six meets during the season ... Was a first team All-American as part of the Villanova team in the distance medley relay ... All-BIG EAST performer in the 400 meters; Nittany Lion Challenge (1/14): Came in fourth in the 600 meters with a time of 1:18.86 and ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay in a lineup that placed fifth with a time of 3:18.09; Villanova Open (1/27): Recorded a third place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.66 and was part of a 4x400 relay squad which came in third with a time of 3:19.32; Villanova Invitational (2/4): Finished fourth in the 800 meters in 1:51.55 ... Ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay and helped the Wildcats win the race in 3:15.83; UCS Invitational (2/18): Ran the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay in 48.05 ... Villanova recorded a third place finish in the relay with a time of 9:37.90 ... The race was run on a flat surface and the converted time of 9:30.16 qualified the Wildcats for the NCAA Championships; BIG EAST Championships (2/24-2/25): Runner-up in the 400 meters at the conference meet ... Had the fastest time in the preliminary heats when he was clocked in 48.48 ... Came in second in the final in 48.22 and earned All-BIG EAST honors; NCAA Championships (3/10): Had a split of 48.17 on the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay ... Villanova tallied an eighth place finish with a time of 9:39.38 and earned first team All-America honors in the relay.

2016: Earned All-BIG EAST honors in three different events, including the 400 meters individually as well as both the distance medley relay and the 4x400 meter relay ... Appeared at six meets during the indoor season; Villanova Open (1/8): Led off the 4x400 meter relay in his collegiate debut and was part of a Villanova lineup that came in sixth in the relay with a time of 3:19.54; Great Dane Classic (1/16): Registered a first place finish in the 800 meters with a winning time of 1:50.43; Penn State National (1/30): Competed in the invitational section of the 800 meters and came in 13th with a time of 1:51.07 ... Also anchored the 4x400 meter relay squad to a runner-up finish with a time of 3:14.01; FastTrack National Invitational (2/12): Ran the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay and helped Villanova win the race in 9:30.66; BIG EAST Championships (2/26-2/27): Ran the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay on the first day of the conference meet ... Helped the Wildcats earn All-BIG EAST honors in the DMR with a second place finish and a time of 9:29.17 ... The mark qualified Villanova for the NCAA Championships in the relay ... Posted a time of 47.98 in the preliminary heats of the 400 meters ... Had the fastest time in the preliminary round and went on to finish second in the final with a time of 48.14 ... Ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay as part of a group which came in second with a time of 3:14.67; NCAA Championships (3/11): Had a split of 48.32 on the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay ... Villanova tallied a sixth place finish in the relay and earned first team All-America honors with a time of 9:34.30.

2019: Earned All-BIG EAST honors in the 800 meters individually and as part of the Wildcats lineup in the 4x400 meter relay ... Competed at four meets during the outdoor season; Hurricane Alumni Invitational (4/13): Came in third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.26 in his first race of the season; Larry Ellis Invitational (4/20): Raced in the seeded section of the 800 meters and came in 13th with a time of 1:52.29; Penn Relays (4/26): Ran the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay and had a split of 47.36 ... Villanova came in seventh in the relay with a time of 9:51.32; BIG EAST Championships (5/10-5/11): Runner-up in the 800 meters and ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay which tallied a third place finish ... Ranked second in the preliminary heats of the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.01 and maintained that spot while posting a season-best time of 1:50.54 in the final ... Part of a 4x400 squad which recorded a time of 3:12.30 ... His efforts helped the Wildcats win the BIG EAST team title and finish off an indoor-outdoor sweep of the conference meets.

2018: Qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary meet for the first time in his career and competed in the 800 meters ... Scored team points in the 400 meters at the BIG EAST Championships ... Competed at three meets during the season; Florida Relays (3/30): Recorded a time of 1:49.81 in the 800 meters in his first meet of the outdoor season ... The time stood up to qualify him for the NCAA East Preliminary later in the year ... Also ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay in the preliminary heats of the meet ... Villanova came in fifth overall in the heats, and its time of 3:10.92 was a season-best in the relay; BIG EAST Championships (5/11-5/12): Tallied a fifth place finish in the 400 meters to score team points at the conference meet ... Led the field of competitors in the preliminaries with a time of 48.47, then placed fifth in the final with a time of 48.60; NCAA East Preliminary (5/24): Competed in the national first round heats of the 800 meters ... Posted a time of 1:50.29 and placed 39th overall.

2017: Competed four times during the season ... Was an All-BIG EAST performer individually in the 400 meters and as part of the Wildcats lineup in the 4x400 meter relay; Hurricane Alumni Invitational (4/8): Placed ninth in the 400 meters with a time of 48.19 and ran the second leg of the 4x400 meter relay as a part of a lineup which finished eighth with a time of 3:15.09; Larry Ellis Invitational (4/22): Tallied a time of 47.58 in the 400 meters and notched a third place finish; Penn Relays (4/28-4/29): Ran legs of both the distance medley relay and the 4x800 meter relay at the world's oldest and largest track & field meet ... Posted a personal best split of 46.77 on the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay, in which Villanova came in fifth in the Championship of America race with a time of 9:34.59 ... Also had a split of 1:49.62 on the second leg of the 4x800 meter relay, with the Wildcats placing fourth in that race with a time of 7:21.18; BIG EAST Championships (5/12-5/13): Runner-up individually in the 400 meters and also anchored the 4x400 meter relay to a third place finish and All-BIG EAST honors ... Ranked second overall in the 400 meters after posting a time of 48.23 in the preliminary heats ... Lowered his time to a season-best mark of 47.57 to maintain his second place standing in the final ... Had a split of 48.99 on the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay, which Villanova placed third in with a time of 3:16.85.

2016: Two-time BIG EAST champion in his first collegiate outdoor season ... Won an individual conference title in the 400 meters and ran a leg of the Wildcats conference champion 4x400 meter relay ... Competed at a total of three meets during the season; Larry Ellis Invitational (4/23): Tallied a third place finish in the 400 meters with a time of 47.82; Penn Relays (4/29): Ran the 400 meter leg of the distance medley relay and recorded a split of 47.92 ... Villanova came in fifth int he DMR with a time of 9:39.10; BIG EAST Championships (5/13-5/14): Won the BIG EAST crown in the 400 meters with a time of 48.66 in the final ... Also led the field of competitors with a time of 48.11 in the preliminary heats ... Helped the Wildcats win a conference title in the 4x400 meter relay ... Ran the third leg of the race and Villanova posted a winning time of 3:15.14.

Castleknock College Secondary School: Competed in the 400 meters and the 800 meters ... One of his coaches was Villanova track & field legend Eamonn Coghlan ... Named his school's Sports Person of the Year in 2014 ... Set the All-Ireland Schools record in the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.42 in 2014 ... Two-time All-Ireland Schools first team performer in the 400 meters (2013, 2014) and also earned the honor once in the 800 meters (2014) ... Holds the top times in the history of the Irish Schools Championships in both the 400 meters and the 800 meters ... Was part of a 4x400 meter relay team which finished sixth at the Senior European Indoor Championships in Prague, Czech Republic in 2015 ... Also came in 10th at the European Junior Championships in Sweden in 2015 ... Was the Irish Junior indoor 800 meters champion in 2014 and 2015, as well as the Irish Junior outdoor 800 meters champion in 2015 ... Outside of track & field, also played rugby, gaelic football, hurling, golf and tennis ... Winner of the Meath Young Sports Person of the Year Award in 2014 ... Member of the Meath Minor Gaelic Football Team in 2013 and the underage Meath Hurling and Gaelic Football teams from 2010-13 ... Captain for his Trim GAA club which won the u16 County Gaelic Football Championship in 2012 ... Won the Junior Captains prize at his local golf club in 2011.

Personal: Born 1/13/96 in Dublin, Ireland ... One of three children of Pat and Patricia Purcell ... Has a twin sister, Jennifer, and a younger brother, Hugo ... Hobbies include playing golf, water sports, mountain biking and listening to music ... Chose to attend Villanova for its athletic and academic resources, as well as the Irish pipeline to the track & field program ... Political Science major.