MADISON, Wis.—In a competitive field that featured 19 of the top 30 ranked teams in the nation freshman Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) led Villanova with a 36^th place overall finish in the women's championship race at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday afternoon. There were 36 teams and more than 260 runners competing in the 6,000 meter race on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course and the Wildcats came in 20^th overall with 520 team points.
 
Friday's race was the biggest test of the season thus far for a young Villanova team. The quality of the competition and the size of the field combined to resemble a national championship race and served as good preparation for the Wildcats as they prepare for the three postseason meets coming up in the next six weeks. Villanova was led at the top of its lineup by Sigfstead, junior Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) and senior Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) who finished within 24 seconds of each other.
 
Each of those top three runners for the Wildcats has taken a turn leading the team in the first three outings of the season and it was Sigfstead's turn on Friday as she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:45.8. Olivere came in 57^th with a time of 21:00.3 and Smith was 77^th in 21:09.8 in the field of 266 runners. Smith and Sigfstead both looked strong as the pack of runners came out of the starting gates. They each ran near the front of the pack for the first 2,000 meters, with Smith officially in fourth place at the 2K mark although no leading pack had formed at that early point in the race.
 
Redshirt freshman Kendra Lewis (Vancouver, B.C.) was fourth in the Villanova lineup with a time of 21:31.6 and finished 136^th overall, while junior Anna Helwigh (Soborg, Denmark) was the team's fifth scorer with a time of 22:28.8 and a 227^th place finish. The team score of 520 points put the Wildcats ahead of nationally-ranked squads from Indiana, Connecticut, Furman and Oregon State. Villanova entered the meet ranked 20^th nationally and first in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
 
Rounding out the Wildcats lineup were freshman Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) and sophomore Elizabeth Vaughn (Dayton, Ohio) who recorded times of 22:44.3 and 22:59.1, respectively.
 
Villanova will now set its sights on preparations postseason competition which begins later this month with the BIG EAST Championships. The conference meet takes place on October 29 at Northview Church in Carmel, Ind. and will be followed by the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and the NCAA Championships next month.