HAVERFORD, Pa.—Sophomore Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) led a strong team performance in the cross country season opener and came in first with a winning time of 16:22.1 over three miles at the Main Line Invitational on Friday afternoon.  Villanova swept the top three spots in the race and had eight of the first nine finishers in the local meet on the Alumni Course at Haverford College.  Olivere, freshman Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) and senior Ann Campbell (Mission Hills, Kan.) formed the Wildcats 1-2-3 trio. 
 
"It is good to get a hard effort in before the big meets start," Villanova head coach Gina Procaccio said.  "This meet is a rust-buster for us and we didn't rest for it like we would on a typical Thursday.  It is good to see everyone have a hard effort, feel a little tired and see how they come out of it." 
 
After running in a pack for much of the race, Olivere broke away during the final mile and closed strong to cross the finish line with a 10-second winning margin.  Her winning time of 16:22.1 is the seventh-fastest by a Wildcats runner on the Haverford course.  She claimed her first collegiate cross country individual title with the first place finish. 
 
"Lydia is a lot more confident this year and feels a lot stronger," Procaccio said.  "She is a born leader and has kind of stepped up into that role this season.  She has a great attitude and I am excited to see how the season progresses." 
 
Smith had a successful collegiate debut with a runner-up finish and recorded a time of 16:32.6.  Campbell came in third with a time of 17:00.9, while freshman Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) and sophomore Reilly Siebert (Syosset, N.Y.) were Villanova's fourth and fifth scoring runners.  Merrill placed fifth overall in 17:20.8 and Siebert was three seconds behind her in sixth place with a time of 17:23.8. 
 
Three other Wildcats notched top-10 finishes, including freshman Brynne Sumner (Canton, Ga.) who joined Smith and Merrill as freshmen debuting for Villanova in the race.  Sumner finished in seventh place (17:34.9), with senior Kaleigh Hughes (Needham, Mass.) in eighth place (17:42.9) and senior McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) placing ninth (17:58.5).  Also in action was senior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.), like Keegan a 400/800 specialist on the track.  Onque-Shabazz finished 16^th overall in 18:17.4. 
 
"I tried to mimic the bigger races later in the season when you have to make it count at the end," Olivere said of pulling away from the field before the finish line.  "I was trying to find that last little bit of strength I had because it will help down the road to cut down your place a lot.  This meet is about wearing the uniform for the first time, getting ready for a race and putting on the spikes, and our first time running as a team." 
 
Several local teams competed at Friday's meet, which has been the traditional season opener for the better part of the last 15 years.  The team will have next week off before returning to action at the Paul Short Run on Saturday, October 5.