BOSTON, Mass.—Sophomore middle distance runner Charlie O'Donovan (Cork, Ireland) etched his name into the historic record of one of the most celebrated milestones in track & field with his first career sub-four minute mile during the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday afternoon.  He and senior Andrew Marston (Wayne, Pa.), who broke eight minutes in the 3000 meters for the first time in his career, provided the highlights for Villanova on an exciting day at the Track & Tennis Center on the Boston University campus. 
 
The remarkable list of Villanovans who have run a sub-four minute mile or the metric equivalent added a 42^nd member with O'Donovan's time of 3:58.95.  He and senior Logan Wetzel (Saline, Mich.) ran in the same heat, and Wetzel posted a time of 4:00.05 which put him tantalizingly close to joining O'Donovan in the record books.  Junior Nick Steele (Harvard, Mass.) ran in an earlier section and came in with a time of 4:09.31 after being almost on a sub-four pace himself were it not for a fall that affected multiple runners with just over two laps to go. 
 
Marston recorded a personal best time of 7:59.25 in the 3000 meters to join the list of Wildcats all-time leaders in the event.  Redshirt freshman Haftu Strintzos (Victoria, Australia) added a PR of 8:05.74 and sophomore Josh Phillips (Belrose, Australia) recorded a time of 8:11.85 in their heat of the 3K, which Steele and freshman Miller Anderson (West Hartford, Conn.) came back to pace.  Anderson earlier ran the 800 meters in 1:53.46.  O'Donovan also returned to the track later in the evening to pace a section of the 3000 meters. 
 
The significance of running a sub-four minute mile stands alone without the need for additional supporting detail, but O'Donovan's closing kick in the race only added to the magnitude of the moment.  He made his move with 70 meters to go with a nifty slide into lane two after sitting on the shoulder of frontrunner Patrick Gregory who had appeared to create a bit of separation at the start of the bell lap.  O'Donovan deftly passed Gregory approaching the final turn, with four other runners riding his coattails. 
 
It was near-perfect execution of the race plan, which called for a pacer to take the field of 12 runners through the first 800 meters in about 1:58 to set up a sub-four minute finish.  The actual pace was 58.74 through the first 400 meters and 1:59.28 at 800, with O'Donovan staying within about half a second of the lead through the first half of the race.  When the rabbit dropped out after the first 800 meters and Gregory moved into the lead with three laps to go, Wetzel and O'Donovan were in the second and third positions. 
 
The largest gap between O'Donovan and Gregory was when the bell sounded for the final lap.  Official splits after the race showed Gregory to be in front by 1.23 seconds with 200 meters to go.  Real-time observation of the race appeared to show Gregory widening his lead with the crowd cheering him on, but the field caught up to him on the back straightaway and O'Donovan was the first to pass him when he started his kick. 
 
O'Donovan's move was a decisive one and he had the lead firmly in hand as he made his final strides towards the finish line.  All that was left to see was whether he would surge across the line before the clock could cross the four-minute threshold.  The race was broadcast live on Flotrack and when O'Donovan crossed the finish line the commentator teased the verdict by asking "Is it sub-four" before jubilantly exclaiming "YES!" to close the call.  A quick peek at the results made the accomplishment a reality for O'Donovan, who had just a few seconds to let it sink in before Wetzel and Steele were the first to mob him in congratulating the milestone.   
 
Wetzel's time was a personal best by more than two seconds.  The race was his latest strong step back in recovery from an injury.  The meet in Boston was only Wetzel's third competition since the outdoor NCAA Championships last spring and offseason surgery which followed.  His indoor season began with a 4:12.04 tuneup in the Mile at the Villanova Invitational two weeks ago, while a time of 1:50.19 in the 800 meters last weekend showed him to be back in top form. 
 
In the fastest section of the Mile, Steele had come through the first 800 meters in 2:00.98 and was on an approximate mile pace of 4:03 with 600 meters to go.  The heat was a physical one and Steele was knocked off balance after appearing to just avoid colliding with another runner.  Just moments later a second competitor lost his footing and went off the inside of the track.  Steele had earned his way into the first heat of the Mile after posting a PR of 4:00.71 at the Wildcats home meet two weeks ago in Staten Island. 
 
The last event of the weekend for Villanova was the 3000 meters, with Marston running one section followed by Strintzos and Phillips in the heat behind him.  Marston moved into 10^th place on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the 3K with hist personal best time of 7:59.25.  That cut just over four seconds off his previous top time of 8:03.28 which he had run in New York as a sophomore two seasons ago. 
 
Strintzos closed strong over the final half of his race to continue his impressive progression this season.  He ran the 3K in 8:17.69 at Navy on January 18 in the first indoor race of his collegiate career, then lowered that time by five seconds when he ran 8:12.43 at the Villanova Invitational on February 1.  He cut nearly seven more seconds off that time on Saturday in a race that showed both his current capabilities and his potential to keep coming as one of the Wildcats emerging prospects. 
 
By this point in the season there are of course implications beyond the Villanova record books.  As of the end of competition in the Mile, there were 10 runners in the country who had broken 3:59 in the Mile this season.  The national performance list is pending results of other meets around the country this weekend, but what is known is that only the top 16 declared athletes in the event will qualify for the NCAA Championships next month. 
 
Before that are the BIG EAST Championships on March 1-2 in Geneva, Ohio.  O'Donovan, Wetzel and Steele are now the top three performers in the conference in the Mile this season.  Marston took over the conference lead in the 3000 meters on Saturday, with Strintzos jumping to third on the BIG EAST performance list and Phillips maintaining his position in fourth.  The conference championships return to SPIRE Institute this year for the second straight season.