HAVERFORD, Pa.—Graduate student Lizzie Martell (Essex Junction, Vt.) paced the Villanova lineup for the second time this season and the Wildcats tallied their fourth team victory of the season with a first place result at the Haverford Invitational on Friday afternoon. Villanova had a perfect team score of 15 points to finish ahead of Lehigh (42) and the rest of the seven-team field in the local meet which featured a 5,000 meter race on the Fran Rizzo Cross Country Course at Haverford College.
 
Four different Wildcats posted personal best times for a 5K cross country course and Martell led the way with a second place finish and a time of 17:39.4. The race was won by Villanova sophomore Bella Walsh who was competing unattached at the meet. She crossed the finish line in 17:36.5 in her first race since the end of the 2025 outdoor season. Martell posted her second runner-up finish of the year after also placing second at the Temple Invitational to start the season.
 
Villanova first year runner Gabby Pistner (St. Marys, Pa.) came in third with a time of 18:06.2, more than 26 seconds faster than she ran on the same course in the Main Line Invitational just over a month ago. The rest of the Wildcats lineup included junior Caelen O'Leary (Taunton, Mass.), sophomore Lucy Moran (Branford, Conn.) and junior Therese Trainer (Havertown, Pa.) who were all in the top eight of the field of 44 runners.
 
O'Leary recorded a time of 18:47.3 in a nearly virtual tie with Moran, who was on her heels in 18:47.4. They finished sixth and seventh, respectively, just ahead of Trainer in eighth place with a time of 18:57.3. There were three non-scorers in the top five, including Walsh running unattached and two runners from Penn who placed fourth and fifth but did not score since the Quakers were not competing with a full team.
 
Villanova has placed first or second in all five meets it has competed in this season. The team is training for the BIG EAST Championships which take place next Friday, October 31, at Olsson Cross Country Course in Ashland, Neb.