PRINCETON, N.J.—Villanova packed seven runners into the top 14 spots and tallied a dominant victory in the Princeton Invitational at West Windsor Fields on Friday afternoon. Graduate student
Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.) was the meet's individual champion and led a 1-2-3 sweep by the Wildcats of the top three finishers in the women's 6000 meter race. Villanova won with a team score of just 21 points in the dominant outing.
Alcorta, senior
Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) and sophomore
Lauren Ryan (South Yarra, Australia) were the first three runners in the field of 222 competitors to cross the finish line. Alcorta registered a winning time of 20:23.9 and was followed by Hutchinson in 20:37.7 and Ryan in 21:09.6. Junior
Ann Campbell (Mission Hills, Kan.) and senior
Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) were seventh (21:14.5) and eighth (21:14.9) to round out the Wildcats five scorers.
The pack of Villanova runners went out strong and stayed at the front of the race for its entirety. Alcorta, Hutchinson, Ryan and freshman
Reilly Siebert (Syosset, N.Y.) were running 1-2-3-4 after one mile and were still out in front at three miles. In addition to the team's five scorers, freshmen
Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) and Siebert recorded times of 21:34.8 and 21:39.3 to come in 13
th and 14
th, respectively, while junior
Sammy Bockoven (Hudson, Ohio) rounded out the team's lineup with a time of 22:42.3.
Alcorta and Hutchinson have been the Wildcats top two finishers at each of the first three meets this season. They also finished 1-2 overall at the Main Line Invitational in the first meet of the year, while Hutchinson came in 11
th and Alcorta was 12
th at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational two weeks later. Villanova entered Friday's meet ranked No. 6 in the nation and No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region rankings.
Next up for the Wildcats is the BIG EAST Championships on October 27 in Carmel, Ind.
PRINCETON INVITATIONAL
October 12, 2018
West Windsor Fields / Princeton, N.J.
6000 Meters
| TEAM STANDINGS (Top 5) |
| Villanova |
1st of 22 |
21 |
| Columbia |
2nd |
38 |
| Temple |
3rd |
107 |
| George Mason |
4th |
180 |
| Maryland |
5th |
200 |
