ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Freshman sprinter
Anthony Brodie (Bronx, N.Y.) won the 500 meter dash in his collegiate debut on Saturday afternoon and Villanova finished first in the 4x400 meter relay during competition at the Wesley A. Brown Invitational. Brodie led a 1-2-3 sweep for the Wildcats in the 500 meters in the meet at Navy, where the Wildcats had entries in seven individual running events and five field events. The two event titles and several individual personal bests highlighted a strong day of competition at Wesley A. Brown Field House.
Brodie crossed the finish line with a winning time of 1:04.39 in the 500 meters in his first collegiate action. Senior
Konrad Bayer (Naperville, Ill.) and junior
Keegan Hughes (Malvern, Pa.) came in second and third, respectively. Bayer recorded a personal best time of 1:05.56 and narrowly edged Hughes who made it across the line in 1:05.65. Hughes and Brodie also teamed with juniors
Amir Brock (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J.) and
Richie Bush (Lawnside, N.J.) to win the 4x400 meter relay in 3:17.74.
SPRINT RECAP
- Bush and Brock each competed in one individual race in addition to running on the relay. In the 200 meters, Bush came in fourth out of 12 competitors with a time of 22.05. Brock posted a time of 51.21 in the 400 meters.
- Redshirt freshman Dylan Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) made his Wildcats debut by posting times of 7.12 in the 60 meters and 22.49 in the 200 meters. He led a group of three Villanova athletes in the 60 meters and was followed by junior Michael Troup (Doylestown, Pa.) and senior Ike Osuagwu (Wilmington, Del.) with times of 7.19 and 7.32, respectively. Troup lowered his personal best in the 60 meters by .01 seconds.
- Senior Dan Powers (Chadds Ford, Pa.) recorded a time of 50.80 in the 400 meters and notched an eighth place finish.
DISTANCE RUNNERS OPEN UP
- Redshirt freshman Haftu Strintzos (Victoria, Australia) was the runner-up in the 3000 meters and led a contingent of six Villanova runners with a personal best time of 8:17.69. Redshirt freshman Ben Seiple (Westport, Conn.) came in sixth in the race with a time of 8:27.17 to start a run of four straight Wildcats across the finish line. Redshirt freshman Patrick Spychalski (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) had a personal best time of 8:36.12 in seventh place, junior Paul Nichols (Latham, N.Y.) was eighth in 8:36.53 and redshirt freshman Patrick Craemer (Upton, Mass.) finished with a new PR of 8:36.89. Graduate student Dylan Tarpey (Freehold, N.J.) was 12th in 8:45.73.
- True freshman Miller Anderson (West Hartford, Conn.) came in second in the 1000 meters with a personal best time of 2:27.48 while running in the Villanova singlet for the first time. Redshirt freshman Nick Ackerman (Manalapan, N.J.) recorded a time of 4:25.30 and finished sixth in the Mile.
TOP INDOOR MARKS IN THE LONG JUMP
- Troup and junior Vincent Sengelmann (Boise, Idaho) recorded indoor personal bests in the long jump. Troup measured a jump of 7.12 meters and moved into ninth place on the Wildcats all-time indoor performance list in the event. He came in second at Saturday's meet, while Sengelmann was seventh with a jump of 6.75 meters.
NOTABLE FIELD PERFORMANCES
- Junior thrower Billy Loewen (Sparta, N.J.) had a big PR in the shot put with a throw of 15.30 meters. He topped his previous collegiate best by more than a meter and came in fifth in his season debut. Loewen also finished with a mark of 13.52 meters in the weight throw.
- Senior thrower Chika Nwachukwu (Lawrence, N.J.) posted marks of 13.35 meters in the shot put and 13.68 meters in the weight throw. Freshman Eduardo Perez (Appling, Ga.) debuted with a throw of 13.04 meters in the shot put, while senior Jadyn Anczarski (Ringtown, Pa.) led the Wildcats with a 10th place finish and a distance of 14.86 meters in the weight throw.
- The high jump trio of junior Jacob Kelly (Longmeadow, Mass.), junior Ryan Tompkins (Farmingdale, N.J.) and sophomore Peter Willis (St. Charles, Ill.) all opened their seasons. Kelly came in second out of 16 competitors in the long jump with a height of 2.00 meters, while Topmkins cleared the bar at 1.95 meters and Willis had a mark of 1.85 meters for the day.
- Sophomore Jim Keys (Herndon, Va.) came in eight in the pole vault with a successful attempt at 4.60 meters.
UP NEXT
- The indoor track & field season continues for Villanova at the New York Armory next weekend. The team will compete at the Dr. Sander Invitational and the Columbia Challenge, which run concurrently inside the famed venue on Friday and Saturday, January 24-25.
