VILLANOVA, Pa.—Driving rain in the afternoon and cold temperatures after dark had nothing on the electrifying performances by junior thrower Andrew Grinnell (New Milford, Conn.) and sophomore distance runner Marco Langon (Raritan, N.J.) on a memorable second day of competition Friday at the 2024 BIG EAST Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP. Grinnell made good on the only chance he had to reclaim the lead on the final throw of the javelin competition and Langon somehow found space where there was none on the inside rail to win his own BIG EAST gold medal in the final strides of the 5,000 meters.
 
Five athletes in all combined for 34 points in three scored events on Friday and Villanova is currently in third place in the team standings with 15 of the 22 events that make up the meet program still to be scored on Saturday afternoon. An additional seven athletes combined to secure eight spots in the final of their respective events after preliminary heats at Villanova Stadium. Two of the standout performers for the Wildcats were junior Justin Miller (Collierville, Tenn.) and sophomore Amiri Prescod (Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) who each doubled in multiple events on Friday.
 
Miller scored in both the long jump and the javelin, which was particularly impressive given that the two events took place simultaneously and on separate sides of Lancaster Avenue. Prescod is the fastest qualifier for the final of the 100 meters and secured an automatic qualifying spot for the final of the 200 meters.
 
JAVELIN
 
It was the efforts by Grinnell and Langon which created the kind of indelible memories that only championship competition can provide. Grinnell clapped his hands together to urge on his teammates and onlookers before trekking down the javelin runway and unleashing the fourth-longest throw in school history at 67.86 meters. The final moments of the competition provided high drama not always seen in this event.
 
Grinnell fouled on his first attempt Friday and then recorded a mark of 66.34 meters on his second throw. That was a personal best by a margin of nearly 1.5 meters and gave Grinnell a wide lead atop the standings in the eight-person field. The reigning silver medalist from Connecticut, Connor Hayford, had thrown 60.07 meters on his first attempt but was more than six meters behind Grinnell in second place after two throws. In the dreary conditions there was every chance that Grinnell's lead would hold up and he proceeded to pass on the third, fourth and fifth round of throws. Hayford chipped away, improving his mark to 62.73 meters on his third attempt and 64.52 meters with this fifth throw.
 
All eight athletes in the competition automatically advanced into the final round of three additional throws and Grinnell could only watch and wait to see if anyone would approach or exceed the standard he had set. Villanova senior Nick Coffey (Cranston, R.I.) won the bronze medal and threw 58.08 meters on his sixth attempt, setting up Hayford's final throw moments later. Hayford had his best effort of the day in store and measured a mark of 67.19 meters, 85 centimeters further than Grinnell who suddenly found himself on the clock with only one throw left to try and reclaim the lead.
 
A few gasps and hopeful murmurs could be heard in the background when Grinnell's throw landed, but it was again watch-and-wait as all eyes turned to the electronic results board on the opposite side of the runway. As the mark flashed into view – 67.86 meters – Grinnell stared in near disbelief as his teammates and Wildcats throwing coach Peter Koumlelis mobbed him in celebration. As the moment sank in, Grinnell too could exult in his first career championship. He moved from fifth place into third in school history in the javelin and finished the day with a lifetime PR more than three meters better than the previous mark of 64.85 meters which Grinnell had set just a few weeks earlier at the Virginia Challenge.
 
This is the second team each that Grinnell and Coffey have earned All-BIG EAST honors in the javelin. Miller finished seventh with a mark of 49.67 meters after taking just one throw before returning across the street from Pike Field to start the long jump on time inside Villanova Stadium.
 
5000 METERS
 
Even before the starter's gun went off at 9 p.m. for the final event of the night, all the conditions were in place for an instant classic in the men's 5K championship. The top three seeds entering the race – Jesse Hamlin from Butler, Langon, and Florian LePallec from Butler – had all run top-10 NCAA times earlier this season. Not only that, they had done so in the same race. It was at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. less than a month ago on April 12 when the trio battled against each other in one of the fastest 5K races in collegiate history.
 
A lead pack of five runners – the trio of favorites included – established itself ahead of the rest of the field by the middle of the race. By the sound of the bell it was a two-man duel between Hamlin and Langon, the latter of whom had not held the lead since the first 200 meters of the race. That changed on the back straightaway when Langon eased into the lead for a few strides, a move which was countered by Hamlin making a powerful kick back into the lead and with a chance to put some distance between himself and Langon less than 200 meters from home.
 
Forced into an all-out sprint as they passed under the lights of the stadium video board above them, Langon stayed within striking distance and then for the most fleeting of moments appeared to have pulled even with Hamlin coming out of the final turn. Hamlin had one more burst though, and he shouldered into the final homestretch looking to block Langon's path to pass him on the left. Somehow, and somewhere, the Wildcats talented sophomore with a flair for the dramatic found the space. He slid past Hamlin with less than 50 meters to go, then kept a full head of steam as he chugged to the finish with the lead.
 
The winning time for Langon was 13:45.50 and Hamlin was just over half a second behind him at the line in 13:46.04. They closed so hard that LePallec wound up more than eight seconds off the pace in third place (13:53.88). Langon's split was 55.77 for the final lap and 1:58.09 over the last 800 meters. Villanova junior Devon Comber (Ambler, Pa.) finished sixth in 14:02.80.
 
LONG JUMP
 
The men's long jump competition began 30 minutes after the javelin, giving Miller less than a full warmup period after he returned from the throwing field. The best of his first three jumps was 6.95 meters on his second attempt, good enough to get him into the final round for three more tries. He improved his mark to 7.07 meters on his fourth attempt and finished fourth out of 15 competitors, three spots higher than where he placed indoors in his BIG EAST Championships debut. Miller is a transfer from Memphis who is in his first year competing for the Wildcats.
 
PRELIMINARY HEATS
 
Prescod won his heat of the 100 meters in 10.62 and was second in his heat of the 200 meters to automatically move on to the final with a time of 21.79. He is the fastest qualifier for the 100 meter final and is ranked sixth going into the final of the 200 meters. Junior Connor Dunning (Nashua, N.H.) recorded a time of 21.97 and will join Prescod in the 200 meter final.
 
Fifth year collegian Sean Dolan (Ewing, N.J.) and freshman Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) are the top two qualifiers for the final of the 800 meters. They ran in the same preliminary heat and posted times of 1:48.78 and 1:48.98.
 
The other final qualifiers for the Wildcats are sophomore Jimmy Milgie (Wildwood, Mo.) in the 400 meters along with the duo of Nicholas Mollica (Jackson, N.J.) and Sal Barretta (Whitestone, N.Y.) in the 400 meter hurdles. The men's 1500 meters is a straight-to-final competition and will be contested in one race on Saturday afternoon.