April 28, 2017
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| Race Results | Quotes
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - As the wins keep piling up, the records are bound to start falling. Villanova won the Championship of America title in the women's 4x1500 meter relay at the Penn Relays on Friday afternoon, racking up their 11th championship in the past six years at the world's most historic track meet. This is the 39th title all-time for the Wildcats in a women's Championship of America race, and the victory also set a new individual record as senior Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) became the first collegiate women's runner to win eight career Penn Relays watches.
Piccirillo ran the second leg of the 4x1500 relay, taking the baton from sophomore Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) and eventually being followed by sophomore Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) on the third leg and junior Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Dublin, Ireland) running anchor. Villanova won with a time of 17:25.85 in a race that turned into a duel between the Wildcats and Stanford for the second half of the race. The runner-up Cardinal were nearly two seconds back with a time of 17:27.47, while third-place Oregon was another 12 seconds off the pace with a time of 17:39.78.
"When you come here you become a different being," Villanova head coach Gina Procaccio said. Siofra is predominantly an 800 meter runner but she ran a time that would put her tops in the country in the 1500 meters. The race was impressive all along. I wanted Angel to get that eighth title to break the record. That record had stood for a long time, but I didn't want to talk about that kind of stuff beforehand. When you that, it doesn't happen. This is just a great day for us all-around."
The previous collegiate women's record of seven career Penn Relays victories was held by Villanovans -- Kathy Franey (1985-90) and Michelle Bennett (1988-91), and Piccirillo tied the mark when she anchored the Wildcats to the distance medley relay championship on Thursday evening. She now stands alone in both school history and in the annals of the Penn Relays, which are being run this year for the 123rd time.
"It is such a privilege just be on a Villanova relay in general at the Penn Relays, let alone to be an anchor," Piccirillo said. "The record is an honor but it definitely is not something that has been on my mind over the years. Every year you come in and there are new obstacles -- a new team, new girls, and new positions -- so we just try to win each one and take it a day at a time. We are trying to win as many relays as we can for Villanova, for Gina, and for the rest of the girls here. If that means breaking a record then that's what happens."
Cleirigh Buttner got the baton for the anchor leg of Friday's race with the Wildcats and Stanford gaining ground on the rest of the pack. She ran nearly even with Elise Cranny from the Cardinal before stretching out her lead with 200 meters to go. This is her fifth Championship of America relay victory and the second straight year that she has run the anchor leg of a winning 4x1500 meter relay. Procaccio commented after the distance medley relay on Thursday night -- Cleirigh Buttner opened up the race on the third leg of that relay -- that she has never had a runner who can accelerate as fast as Cleirigh Buttner can when she makes her kick during a race. Cleirigh Buttner has often been asked about the timing of making her move.
"I have confidence in myself and I just remember what I am doing it for and who I am doing it for," Cleirigh Buttner said. "You look up to the `Nova section and see all of them behind us, then I see my parents and finally you get Gina on the back straight. There are so many people behind you, and then I see each girl do their job before me in the race. There is only one choice, and that is to win. We did it again, and I am proud of everyone beside me here today."
Burda led off the relay with a split of 4:34.02 for the first 1500 meters, followed by Piccirillo running 4:17.01 on the second leg. Hutchinson maintained the Villanova lead with a split of 4:23.05 on the third leg, and Cleirigh Buttner brought home the race with a remarkable split of 4:11.03 on the anchor leg. Burda, Hutchinson and Cleirigh Buttner ran the same legs of the relay in last year's victory.
The race was particularly notable for Burda, who was at her strongest during cross country season when she arrived on campus and is currently training to be a 10,000 meter runner on the team's distance unit.
"This relay was really emotional for me," Procaccio said. "Bella is our 10,000 meters runner now, and I knew that Stanford and Oregon had four girls under 4:20. You just can't beat toughness. When the race was slow in the leadoff leg, I was concerned that they would just take off on her. Bella is more of a distance runner but I was just so impressed how she stuck her nose in there. It didn't matter what the pace was, she just found a way to keep it close."
Hutchinson is quickly gaining a reputation for coming up big for the Wildcats when it counts the most. She helped lead the team to last year's 4x1500 relay title in her first truly big race as a freshman, and this year was a qualifier for the NCAA Championships indoors in the Mile. Hutchinson had a goal coming into the weekend to show that she could run a leg on all three of the Penn Relays distance races.
"Nicole got the baton in the lead and the girl sitting on her is a world junior bronze medalist who ran 4:08 last summer," Procaccio said. "I think she has one of the top four times in the country this year. That wasn't a good position for Nicole to be in, but she just ran like such a pro. For such a young athlete to slow the race down and not let that girl get by, I was really impressed with that. I had faith in Nicole, but she really ran like a champ."
The distance medley relay and 4x1500 meter relay account for 26 of the 39 titles Villanova has won in women's Championship of America relays. That number includes 15 victories in the DMR and 11 in the 4x1500 relay, both the most of any team ever.
"I'm ecstatic," Piccirillo said. "This was a big meet for me in high school, and one of the reasons I decided to go to Villanova was because I know how seriously they take it. To come to this point in my career and be one of the most winningest girls that has come out of Villanova is an honor and a privilege that I couldn't be more proud of."
COMPLETE RESULTS
Championship of America 4x1500 Meter Relay
Villanova 1st of 7 17:25.85Bella Burda 1st Leg 4:33.8Angel Piccirillo 2nd Leg 4:17.9Nicole Hutchinson 3rd Leg 4:23.6Siofra Cleirigh Buttner Anchor 4:11.6
Stanford 2nd 17:27.47 Oregon 3rd 17:39.78 Indiana 4th 17:39.82
BYU 5th 17:47.65
Penn 6th 17:55.05
Temple 7th 18:40.47
ADDITIONAL QUOTES FROM POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Gina Procaccio...
On winning at Penn Relays with younger runners: I was thinking that all of these girls have had the privilege of winning here as a freshman. When Angel was a freshman, she was pivotal in us winning the DMR and the 4x800 with Emily Lipari and Nicky Akande, she had those girls ahead of her. Siofra the next year as a freshman had Angel and Stephanie Schappert, and was able to get that experience as a freshman, then Bella and Nicole being on the 4x1500 last year. When you throw them out there as freshman and they win, that's what they're going to expect. They expect to win every year, and they're going to expect to be on the team and to win because that's all they know from day one.
On having run the day before and beating Stanford, who was running with fresh legs: That just made me, and I'm sure our girls too, more determined to beat them. I was a little disappointed when they didn't show up in the DMR.
On whether Angel setting a record with eight wheels takes away from the team effort: Angel deserves it. Any press my girls get I'm happy and grateful for whether it's Angel or the four of them. They're a really great group of girls. They are all pretty close and they care about each other. They're very down to earth and laid back, and they're not going to care one way or another. They are happy that they won.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner...
On knowing when to make her kick in a race: It's hard to describe. I just listen to my legs. Coming around with 350 to go, I could kind of feel I was trying to open it up already. I told myself to relax and don't go too crazy. Going into the back straight it was still early. With 200 left I could just feel my legs go and my stride start to open, and I went the exact same time as last year. I was hurting that last 800 but I knew that she was hurting too and I have so much confidence in my speed that once I make the move I just keep rolling and true until the line. It's such a privilege as Angel said to be out there again and to win another wheel, and to anchor for these girls and Villanova.
Angel Piccirillo...
On this being the last year she will run Penn Relays for Villanova: It is bittersweet. This day was coming and it was going to come regardless whether I liked it or not. It will be a little bit hard to walk away and to know that I won't be wearing this jersey at this track ever again but I have been so fortunate to have so many good experiences here. Like Gina was saying, I have run with so many girls that have been so talented and I have so many happy memories here, and I only had one loss. So I just couldn't be more grateful for the experience I have had here and the opportunity, and for Gina having faith in me since freshman year to put me on these relays, I continue trying not to let her down. It will be hard to leave but I've had such a good experience.
