AMBLER, Pa.—The duo of CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) and Nick Sullivan (Middletown, N.J.) combined for a 2-3 finish in Villanova's season opener at the Temple Ambler campus on Friday evening. A contingent of five Wildcats competed in the Temple Owls Cross Country Invitational to officially open the 2024 campaign.
 
The pair of Sullivans were among four redshirt freshmen who competed in their first affiliated collegiate race for Villanova in Friday's lidlifter. CJ Sullivan covered the 6,000 meter course in 19:25.2 to finish second out of 34 runners. Nick Sullivan was just a second behind him in 19:26.2. The five Wildcats were separated at the finish line with a respectable spread of just over 33 seconds.
 
Brian Theobald (Wall, N.J.) was the third Villanova runner across the finish line and he registered a time of 19:44.0. He was followed by Kai Mitchell-Reiss (Portland, Ore.) and Bennett Booth-Genthe (Pottstown, Pa.) who finished consecutively in 15^th and 16^th places, respectively. Mitchell-Reiss posted a time of 19:56.7 and Booth-Genthe made his Wildcats debut as a graduate transfer from Pomona with a time of 19:58.6.
 
This week marked the start of Fall semester classes at Villanova as well as the start of the team's training for the 2024 season. With Friday's competition in the books, the Wildcats will turn their attention to the bulk of the season to come. The team's next meet is on Friday, September 20 when they run in the annual Main Line Invitational at Haverford.