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Sophomores Casey Comber (Maple Glen, Pa.) and Andrew Marston (Wayne, Pa.) were the top two overall finishers at the Main Line Invitational for the second straight year as Villanova opened its 2017 season on Friday evening. Comber and Marston were a potent punch at the top of the Wildcats lineup, and they paced a field of 46 runners from three Division I schools on the Alumni Cross Country Course at Haverford College.

Comber covered the four-mile course in 19:20.8, the fifth-fastest time ever by a Wildcats runner on the Haverford course and half a second faster than he himself ran in winning this race last year. Marston finished second in 19:29.8 to become the 10th fastest Villanova athlete at the four-mile distance. There were a total of 13 runners in action for the Wildcats on a hot and humid afternoon, and the other scoring runners followed Comber and Marston in 11th, 13th and 16th places.

Redshirt freshman Nick Steele (Harvard, Mass.) had a strong race in his official collegiate debut after running in only unattached races last year. He finished 11th overall with a time of 20:05.5, followed by junior Zach Swenson (Boulder, Colo.) in 13th place (20:14.1) and sophomore Paul Power (Phoenixville, Pa.) in 16th (20:26.2). Also finishing in the top 20 overall were senior Ben Malone (River Vale, N.J.) and redshirt freshman Rob Morro (Media, Pa.), who were 17th (20:32.0) and 20th (20:35.0), respectively.

The race made just under four laps around an approximately one-mile loop, and Comber and Marston wasted no time establishing themselves at the front of the pack of runners. They were running at the front one mile in, with Comber then comfortably ahead of Marston at the two-mile marker. Marston had taken the lead by three miles before Comber surged back into the lead during the final mile.

A quick start for the team's top two returning athletes is a good sign, as both Comber and Marston earned All-BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors last season. Marston was an individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships a year ago. The rest of the Villanova lineup is mostly untested in big meets, and the experience gained in Friday's season opener should pay dividends down the road as the Wildcats continue training for the bulk of their season schedule.

Other finishers for Villanova included redshirt freshman Martin Barr (Skokie, Ill.) with a time of 20:46.8, sophomore Logan Wetzel (Saline, Mich.) in 20:56.2, sophomores Louis Vazquez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Lucas Arrivo (Ann Arbor, Mich.) with times of 21:01.5 and 21:21.6, respectively, redshirt freshman Paul Nichols (Latham, N.Y.) with a time of 21:51.2 and sophomore Jacob Bonanotte (Barrington, Ill.) with a time of 23:32.7.

Runners from the Wildcats, Penn, Lehigh, Haverford, Swarthmore and Widener competed in Friday's race. Division scoring rules require that the team scores be separated by division. The scores in the Division I standings had Penn in front (25), followed by Villanova (36) and Lehigh (85).

Next up for the Wildcats is the Paul Short Run at Lehigh on Friday, September 29.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

Division I Team Scores

1. Penn                       252. Villanova                  363. Lehigh                     85

Individual Results (Division I Teams Only)

Casey Comber                  1st of 46                   19:20.8Andrew Marston                2nd                         19:29.8Nick Steele                   11th                        20:05.5Zach Swenson                  13th                        20:14.1Paul Power                    16th                        20:26.2Ben Malone                    17th                        20:32.0Rob Morro                     20th                        20:35.0Martin Barr                   22nd                        20:46.8Logan Wetzel                  26th                        20:56.2Louis Vazquez                 29th                        21:01.5Lucas Arrivo                  33rd                        21:21.6Paul Nichols                  39th                        21:51.2Jacob Bonanotte               46th                        23:32.7