|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
ON CAMPUS CALENDAR TICKETS ONLINE STORE V CLUB All-ACCESS AUCTIONS |
 |
 |
|
Penn Relays Preview - Villanova Begins Penn Relay Competition on Thursday
April 25, 2002 The Villanova men and women's track & field team begins competition at the famed Penn Relays on Thursday. The Penn Relays will take place from April 25-27 at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Click on the pdf link below for a complete version of Villanova's Penn Relay notes.
Complete Release in PDF Format
at the 108th running of the Penn Relays
Thursday, April 25 - Saturday, April 27 Franklin Field, University of Pennsylvania
Penn Relay Lineup
Thursday 10:00am Pole Vault (W) - Michelle Ezzie 10:00am Discus (W) - Melinda Boykin 12:40pm 4x100m (W) - Byam, Price, Bridgwood, Bernard 1:00pm Hammer Throw - Melinda Boykin 1:45pm Shot Put (W) - Melinda Boykin, Christine Heffernan, Sylvia Taggart 3:15pm Javelin (W) - Christine Heffernan 4:30pm DMR Championship (W) - Mitchell, Bridgwood, Rhoden, Toedebusch 5:25pm 4x400m (W) - Fontaine, Bridgwood, Rhoden, Cosnett 6:45pm Steeplechase (M) - James Osborne 8:35pm 5000m (M) - Jon Fasulo, Pat Dunn
Villanova Penn Relay News & Notes
PENN RELAY VETERANS: Villanova head men's track & field coach Marcus O'Sullivan and Wildcat women's head coach Gina Procaccio both know what it takes to win at the Penn Relays. During his four-year Main Line career (1980-84), O'Sullivan was part of six Penn Relay Championship of America winning relay teams. Procaccio transferred to Villanova from the University of Florida for her senior year in 1987 and was a member of the Wildcats winning DMR team. The duo have also won numerous individual races at the Penn Relays.
WHAT THEY MEAN: A recent quote by Wildcat head men's track & field coach Marcus O'Sullivan illustrates how important the Penn Relays are to him and the Villanova track & field program. When asked about the Relays, O'Sullivan was quoted as saying, "This is our back yard. When you run at home, be it good, bad or indifferent, you have to show up. With Villanova and the Penn Relays, expectations are far above what the normality is. Once you understand it, you can do it. It's amazing. This is where I grew up."
LOOKING TO REPEAT: At last year's Penn Relay Carnival, the Villanova men captured its first Championship of America relay title since 1993 by winning the DMR in 9:30.48. The win also marked Villanova's first DMR crown since 1981. If the 'Cats win the DMR this year, it will be the first time that Villanova has won back-to-back DMR titles at the Penn Relays since 1980-81. In the history of the Penn Relays, the Wildcat men have 22 DMR titles, including a stretch from 1966-81 when they won 16-straight DMR championships. The last time the Villanova men won a relay title in any event in two straight years was in 1992-93 (3200m relay in '92/ 6000m relay in '93).
PENN RELAY SUCCESS: Despite winning just one Championship of America title in the last eight years, the Villanova men have a combined 59 championships to their credit in the DMR, 6000m relay and 3200m relay. All total, Villanova has won more relay titles than any other school with a total of 87. On the women's side, Villanova has tallied 26 Penn Relay plaques, which is the most by any women's team in the history of the meet, since beginning competition in 1979. The Villanova women have won 22 times in the last 14 years, capturing 22 of the 39 races they have entered. Overall, the Wildcat women have won eight of the last 12 4x1500m relays, seven of the last 14 4x800m titles and eight of the last 15 DMR championships.
INEXPERIENCE: For the second-straight year, the Villanova women will field a very young and inexperienced group at the Penn Relays. Of the six people who will make-up the DMR and 4x1500m relay teams, only sophomore Rebecca Mitchell has competed at the Penn Relays as a collegiate. Running on the DMR team with Mitchell, will be the freshmen trio of Nicole Bridgwood, Holly Cosnett and Kalin Toedebusch. The 4x1500 team will consist of Mitchell, Toedebusch, sophomore Carre Joyce and freshman Ioana Parusheva. The class breakdown of the six women who will run on the two relays are four freshmen and two sophomores.
A YEAR TO REMEMBER: The 2002 track season has been outstanding for Villanova junior Adrian Blincoe. At an indoor meet in Boston on Jan. 27, 2002, Blincoe ran 7:47.5 in the 3000 meter run to establish a new Villanova school record and register the third fastest time ever by a collegian. Blincoe finished off his indoor season by winning the National Championship in the 3,000 meter run. By capturing the 3,000 meter title, Blincoe became the first Villanova male to win an NCAA individual championship since John Marshall won the 880 yard title and Carlton Young claimed the 440 yard championship in 1983. Blincoe also ran the anchor leg on the Villanova DMR relay squad that won the indoor national title at the NCAA Championships. Blincoe got off to a fast outdoor season start last weekend at the Mt. SAC relays when he won the 1,500 meter run in 3:41.85.
DMR SUCCESS: The Villanova DMR team has been sensational this season. Villanova made a name for itself at the Alex Wilson Invitational held at the University of Notre Dame in January when the foursome of Jason Jabaut, Ryan Hayden, Mike Brown and Adrian Blincoe broke a 20-year old school record (9:35.37 on 2/13/82) by running a time of 9:29.57. The 9:29.57 just missed the collegiate and world record time of 9:28.83 set by Stanford University on March 3, 2000. Villanova would close out the indoor season by winning the NCAA championship with a time of 9:31.00. This was the first time in 22 years that the Villanova men's DMR squad has claimed NCAA indoor Championship status. These four runners were the same four that won the DMR at last year's Penn Relays. At this week's Penn Relays, all four of the runners will run on Villanova's DMR team with the exception of Mike Brown who is out of outdoor track eligibility. Replacing Brown on the 400m leg will be sophomore Paul Moser (Copiogue, N.Y.).
WALL OF FAME: Former Villanova University men's track & field standout Dave Patrick has been elected to the Penn Relay Wall of Fame. Joining Patrick in this year's induction class will be Larry Black (North Carolina Central '74), John Trautmann (Georgetown '91), Diane Guthrie-Gresham (George Mason '95), the 1902 Harvard mile relay team, the 1983 Willingboro (NJ) and Bernards High School distance medley relay teams and the 1991 Vere Tech (Hayes, Jamaica) high school girls 4x400 meter relay squad. The Penn Relay Carnival began the Wall of Fame in 1994 and with this year's inductees bring the number of individuals to 51, in addition to 41 relay teams that have been chosen. During his Villanova career, Patrick won seven Penn Relay watches. He ran the anchor mile on Villanova's DMR which set three consecutive Penn Relay Carnival records in 1966, 1967 and 1968. At the 1966 Penn Relays, Patrick was named the meet's Outstanding Collegiate Performer. As a high school athlete in 1964, he captured the Penn Relay high school mile while an athlete at Kenwood High School in Baltimore, Maryland. On Nov. 2, 1966, Patrick was among the second class to be inducted into the Villanova Wall of Fame. In addition to winning two NCAA outdoor championships and two indoor titles, Patrick also garnered six IC4A championships during his Main Line career.
VILLANOVA CHAMPIONSHIP OF AMERICA WATCH WINNER LEADERS (Men's) Totals include relay wins only.
10 Mark Belger, 1975-1978
9 Eammon Coghlan, 1973-1976
Ron Delany, 1956-1958 1
Marty Liquori, 1969-1971 1
Don Paige, 1978-1980
8 Charles Jenkins, 1955-1957
Chris Mason, 1969-1971
Frank Murphy, 1967-1969
Ken Schappert, 1971-1973, 1975
7 Sydney Maree, 1979-1981
Dave Patrick, 1966-1968
6 Ed Collymore, 1957-1959 1
Michael England, 1979-1980, 1982
John Hartnett, 1972-74
Larry James, 1968-1970
Phil Kane, 1975-1977
Marcus O'Sullivan, 1980-1984
5 Noel Carroll, 1963-1965
Hardge Davis, 1968-1970 1
Tom Gregan, 1972-1975
John Hunter, 1980-1982
Brian McElroy, 1973-1974
Tom Sullivan, 1964-1965
Anthony Tufariello, 1979-1980
VILLANOVA CHAMPIONSHIP OF AMERICA WATCH WINNER LEADERS Totals include relay wins only.
7 Michelle Bennett, 1988-1991
Kathy Franey, 1986-1990
6 Vicki Huber, 1985-1989
Sonia O'Sullivan, 1989-1991
Krestena Sullivan 1993-1997
5 Cheri Goddard, 1990-1993
CURRENT WILDCAT RUNNERS WITH PENN RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS Name Number Year Event(s) Adrian Blincoe 1 2001 DMR Ryan Hayden 1 2001 DMR Jason Jabaut 1 2001 DMR
Men's Penn Relay Champions |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Villanova Wildcat Athletics Track & Field
|
||||||
