EUGENE, Ore.—Senior distance runner Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) ran at a near school record pace for more than half of a sizzling national championship 10,000 meter race and went on to a second team All-America finish with a time of 32:40.13 at Hayward Field on Thursday night. Sigfstead finished 13^th in her second career outdoor NCAA Championships race and now owns three of the four fastest 10K times in the Wildcats record book. She is the second runner in school history with multiple All-America honors in the women's 10K.
 
Thursday night's race showcased the level of running that has enabled Sigfstead to develop into one of the top distance runners ever to wear the Villanova singlet. She crossed the finish line more than 38 seconds faster than the time she posted in this same event at the NCAA Championships last season. She now has three career All-America honors, including the last two years in the 10,000 meters in addition to the 2024 cross country season. Expanding the look at the Wildcats record book a bit further, Sigfstead accounts for five of the eight fastest times in school history. Three of those five races have come in the last 50 days.
 
Seldom does a championship level 10K go out as fast as Thursday night's race did, with the field of 24 runners already starting to string out in places after just a single lap around the famed Hayward Field oval. Sigfstead recalled after the race that after just 800 meters she could see the splits on the video board and noted that she was running at her 5K pace. She kept up the torrid pace well past the midpoint of her 25 laps around the track.
 
"It was definitely tough," Sigfstead said of the quick pace from the start. "I have never been in a championship 10K of any kind that has gone out fast. Championship racing usually goes out slow so that was different today but a great experience moving forward. I was hoping to run a PR and I didn't quite do that, but I'm happy that I gave it my all and I tried to pick people off in the second half."
 
Sigfstead did exactly that. She passed four runners in the second half of the race, including two in the last 2000 meters and one in the final two laps. The PR (32:39.54) that she spoke of was tantalizingly within reach, as she was less than six-tenths off the pace that made her a Penn Relays champion back in April. Sigfstead now has top-15 finishes in three straight NCAA Championships races: 12^th in the 10,000 meters last season, 15^th in cross country last Fall and 13^th in Thursday night's 10K final.
 
"It's amazing," Sigfstead said of the championship atmosphere at NCAA meets. "This is my favorite part of the season. I love championship racing of all kinds and it's cool to represent your school on a national stage. We mainly race on the east coast; it's cool to come all the way out here. I love the west coast, I love Oregon."
 
Sigfstead ranks second in school history in the 10K and third in the Villanova record book in the 5000 meters with a PR of 15:33.68 recorded at the NCAA East Preliminary two weeks ago. That performance enabled her to become the Wildcats first runner in six years to qualify for the outdoor NCAA Championships in two events. She is set to run in the national championship 5K race on Saturday night at Hayward Field.
 
"It was a huge goal coming into this year," Sigfstead said of qualifying for the NCAA Championships at both distances. "I am excited to have both under my belt. I had a bit of a rough winter and it's good to be back out here doing two events. It is two shots at trying to get All-America honors for the school so I am excited for Saturday to have another jab at it."