BETHLEHEM, Pa.—In the second race of her collegiate career, freshman Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history for a 6,000 meter cross country course to lead four Villanova runners who competed in the Paul Short Run on Saturday morning.  Smith covered the Goodman Campus Course in 19:47.4 to finish fourth in a field of 295 runners in the 6K gold race. 
 
The results for the Wildcats in Saturday's meet were an encouraging sign as the team prepares for bigger meets later in the season.  Even without a full lineup in competition as is typical for this point in the year, Villanova got strong races from Smith, senior Ann Campbell (Mission Hills, Kan.) and the freshman duo of Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Brynne Sumner (Canton, Ga.). 
 
Smith, who competed in the U20 race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Denmark earlier this year, cut more than a minute off of her previous top time for a 6,000 meter cross country race.  Campbell also had one of the top cross country races of her career with a time of 20:26.9, more than 20 seconds faster than her previous personal best at the distance.  Merrill and Sumner are newcomers to the Wildcats middle distance group who looked strong in their second races of the season.  Merrill recorded a time of 21:05.4 and Sumner crossed the finish line in 21:47.4.
 
The contingent of Villanova runners who were in action on Saturday morning had the opportunity to face competition from schools in a number of regions around the country.  In addition, the Goodman Campus Course at Lehigh will host the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional later this season.  The top two teams at the regional meet earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. 
 
Next up on the Wildcats schedule is the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, October 18.