It is Spring 2021, the last week of May, and the scene is in Jacksonville, Fla. just before the third quarterfinal heat in the women’s 800 meters at the NCAA East regional meet. Spots were on the line for the NCAA Championships two weeks later, and before that last heat a freshman from the University of New Hampshire was getting ready to step up to the starting line when she glanced at the scoreboard. Nobody may have known it at the time, but that moment was instrumental in the wave of momentum that has energized the Villanova women’s track & field and cross country program nearly five years later.

Now it is February 2026, and the scene shifts to the finish line of Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash., where the Wildcats have just set their third school record in a span of less than 24 hours. The last record of the weekend to fall was the Villanova indoor mark in the 800 meters, following the 400 meters earlier that day and the distance medley relay the night before. The new standard bearer for the Wildcats in the indoor 800 meters – at 2:01.70 – is graduate student Lizzie Martell, the same freshman from New Hampshire who five years earlier had peeked at the scoreboard and noted with no small sense of admiration that a Villanova athlete had run 2:01.

“It is really a full circle moment,” Martell said of owning the Villanova indoor record. When I was a freshman in undergrad, I remember at my Regionals race I was in the same heat as McKenna Keegan who is an alumna here. I think she ran like 2:01 low [2:01.25 in the quarterfinal heats] and I remember her, I remember that time. I looked up to her so much and I really respect her, so it does mean a lot. I would have never thought I would end up here as a graduate student and I would end up on the school record board.”

The incremental moments, some more obvious than others when they happened, that have led to a breakthrough season for Villanova are revealed in stories like the one Martell told. They come from the women who were on the record-breaking distance medley relay – Martell, junior sprinter Olivia Allen and junior distance runner Tilly O’Connor, and sophomore middle distance runner Bella Walsh. They come from sophomore Rosie Shay who added her own touch to that memorable weekend in Washington with the fastest mile by a Wildcats athlete in seven years. 

Villanova head coach Gina Procaccio traces the start of her team’s current breakthrough to the 2025 outdoor season when her young group of athletes had success at the BIG EAST Championships. Martell, the only upperclassman of the group, was the silver medalist in the 800 meters. Allen, a sophomore then, won her second straight BIG EAST title in the 400 meter hurdles with a PR that caused her to gasp in shock when she had her own scoreboard-glimpsing moment like Martell’s those years earlier. Shay, O’Connor and Walsh all qualified for the final of the 1500 meters. Each of these runners helped the Wildcats win silver medals in either the 4x400 meter relay or the 4x800 meter relay.

Procaccio, a two-time National Coach of the Year and 17-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year who has been a collegiate national champion as both an athlete and a head coach, saw something in her team’s results at last year’s BIG EAST outdoor meet. She was witnessing one of those incremental moments, a series of accomplishments which paved the way for greatness to come.

The women’s cross country team qualified for the NCAA Championships this past Fall and tallied a top 25 national finish. It was the first time in her collegiate career that O’Connor had qualified for a national meet, and she was the top finisher in the Villanova lineup at the NCAA Championships in Columbia, Mo., just as she had been at the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional which preceded Nationals. 

“After Regionals, once the team qualified, I was like ‘wow, we’re going,’” O’Connor recalled of the Wildcats learning they were officially headed to the NCAA Championships. “I had never been to Nationals before, but, at that moment, it felt like we were finally there. We were finally at the top and that was kind of the best moment for me, so I was excited.”

There has been plenty more for O’Connor to feel excited about since the gratification that cross country season brought her. She anchored the record-setting DMR in 4:35.2 over 1600 meters in Washington, then came back the next day for a time of 9:01.27 in the 3000 meters. That mark is the seventh-fastest indoor 3K in Villanova history; O’Connor has since added the Wildcats seventh-fastest time ever in the 5000 meters at 15:42.69 this outdoor season. She also had a PR of 4:37.55 in the open mile indoors.

“I always talk about this in practice,” O’Connor said of the team’s steps forward during the past year. “I think it is so funny how last year we were all running the same time in the mile, like mid-4:40s, then as a team a bunch of us have improved by 10 seconds and now, we’re all running mid-4:30s. It is kind of crazy to me how we are all improving in the same way. That just goes to show how strong a team we are, like one of us gets faster and then we all get faster because we all work out together and we all support each other. It’s not just one person who is making big jumps: it’s the entire team. I think that momentum also really helps our freshmen know what they are part of and helps them stay motivated to do the same things one day.”

Martell agreed with the effect that success has within the team’s dynamic and was quick to point out that this year’s highlights have not just been limited to the distance group. 

“Iron sharpens iron and the energy is contagious, especially when you see your teammate doing it,” Martell said. “It is sort of like that is the standard and that is the expectation. We started out the Fall with cross country making NCAAs, which really set the tone for the start of the indoor season. We had Maria [Deaviz] set the school record in the shot put [in her first meet for Villanova] and then just keep setting the school record. I think our top 10 lists have been changed after every single meet, so it has been team-wide from throws to jumps to sprints to distance. Everybody is really stepping up.”

Shay was one of the Wildcats headliners at that indoor meet in Washington when she won the mile in 4:35.31. It puts her eighth in school history in the mile and made her the first Villanova athlete in seven years to crack the program’s all-time top 10 list. Shay considers the mile to be the hallmark of the team’s legacy of greatness, and she recalled that her race in Seattle was one that she owed herself.

“I came in here absolutely like a two-mile and cross country kind of girl, and because I had never really trained the mile as much in high school, I found such a love for it,” Shay said. “On our men’s side we have some wicked fast milers, and I think the team having success there, Gina having success there [as a runner], [the mile] is the bread and butter of Villanova, and I am lucky to be able to have the opportunity to race it. 

“I was ready for that pace [in Washington] and in the middle of the race I knew there was another notch to go to which made me excited. I was excited to win a race, but I always finish my races, and I feel this sense of wanting more out of the next opportunity. Racing is so fun because when you get satisfaction you can plateau quickly, and I just know there is a little bit more to do so I’m excited for outdoors for that reason. I know that the miles are going to start coming and I will get those opportunities to race, luckily.”

Shay’s words have already proven prophetic. In her outdoor season debut on March 27, she ran a PR of 4:14.19 in the 1500 meters on the same night that O’Connor posted her time of 15:42.69 in the 5K. Like her mile PR indoors, Shay’s 1500 meter mark was Villanova’s fastest since 2019. She moved into ninth place in school history and was just the second athlete in the last nine years to impact the Wildcats top 10 list. She already lowered her PR to 4:13.98 this past weekend in Virginia, only to drop to 10th in school history when Walsh ran 4:13.56 to claim her own spot on the program performance list at No. 8. 

“I think it is definitely a little bit of a shock,” Walsh said about seeing her times displayed after a big race. “My last race in particular, I looked up at the clock and I saw 4:13. I thought to myself, that is insane, you know? It’s interesting, especially in the middle of a race where you know you’re on track to set a good PR. You get really excited and then the last big push, the last effort, it all kind of comes from a good place. So then crossing the finish line and seeing the time, it is extremely fulfilling seeing all of your hard work come to fruition.”

Walsh has recorded a PR at every distance she has run this season, beginning with a 3K race to begin the indoor season and then going on to the 1000 meters and the mile indoors followed by the 800 meters and the 1500 meters outdoors. She denoted her race in the 1000 meters in January as a turning point.

“My first race indoor when I ran my K, I remember being there and I had just watched my teammates mile. Three of them had gone under 4:40 and I thought, the program hasn’t had this many people under 4:40 in a while. So that is some crazy depth. Then I had to run a K later that meet and I ended up running the number four all-time mark [in Villanova history] and I just completely blew myself away. That was the first time this year that I really thought we were all kind of on a different level. Things feel different and we all kind of blew ourselves away with our performances opening up indoors. That was amazing.”

Amid the team’s success this year on the track came a well-deserved and prestigious honor off of it. On April 16, Procaccio was announced as part of the 2026 Inductee Class to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame along with other top athletes, coaches, contributors, and teams whose legacies have shaped the rich history of Philadelphia sports. 

As an athlete, Procaccio led off the Villanova 4x800 meter relay which set a world record while winning the NCAA title at the 1987 indoor collegiate national championships. She earned two All-America honors during the 1987 indoor season, led off the Wildcats championship distance medley relay at the 1987 Penn Relays and won four BIG EAST titles during that year’s indoor and outdoor conference championships. She won the professional mile race five times at the Penn Relays after graduating.

Procaccio has since gone on to a decades-long coaching career in which she has led Villanova women’s cross country to consecutive NCAA cross country titles in 2009 and 2010 and has tallied a total of 15 top 20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. She has guided the Wildcats to 17 BIG EAST team titles, including six each in cross country and indoor track & field as well as five outdoor conference crowns. Add in another nine team runner-up trophies and Procaccio has led Villanova to a total of 26 podium finishes at the conference championships. Her athletes have won a total of 184 BIG EAST titles in individual events and relays.

“I honestly can’t say enough good things about Gina,” Martell said of her coach. “She just has such a respect for the program being an alumna herself. She expects everyone to respect the legacy. She always kind of mentions that when you’re on the start line and you’re wearing Villanova across your chest, you’re representing yourself, but you are also representing the University. I think having such a good history, you want to do the program proud, and you want to step up to that standard.”

To be part of the Villanova program is to know and appreciate the Wildcats tradition of excellence. Some, like Martell, learned of that legacy by watching runners like McKenna Keegan and then looking at the program’s all-time records when she was being recruited by Procaccio. Others, like Allen, learned of Villanova’s greatness firsthand. 

Allen’s mother is Wildcats Hall of Famer and two-time national champion Debbie Grant, an eight-time collegiate All-American and 13-time BIG EAST champion who ran behind Procaccio on the 1987 world record 4x800 relay. Grant is still the program’s record holder in the 800 meters at 2:00.47; her collegiate PRs include times of 58.37 in the 400 meter hurdles and 1:11.94 in the 500 meters. The latter two events had recent significance because Grant was passed on VU’s all-time performance list within the past year. Fortunately, the lower times were kept in the family.

It was at the BIG EAST outdoor race last year that Allen ran 58.01 in the hurdles to move into second place in school history, dropping Grant to third. This indoor season, Allen ran the second-fastest 500 meter race in Villanova history at 1:11.02 in Philadelphia on January 17. Martell posted the third-fastest time in the Wildcats record book at 1:11.19 in the same race. If Martell wanted another full-circle moment, the 500 meter race was paced by a trio of professional runners. Keegan, now representing NIKE / Nike Union AC, was among them as Villanova excellence past and present was brought together again on the same track.

“I definitely think I can get better and better,” Allen said of her success over the past year. “I think it is important to celebrate the small moments but just know that there is more to come. So, happy with myself and I know I am capable of a lot more. I have gratitude [for my success] and, moving on a bit and setting even higher expectations for myself.” 

The groundwork for the success the Wildcats are having this year was laid through an infusion of talent into the program over the last several years. Four-time All-American Sadie Sigfstead was a member of the 2021-22 incoming class which also featured current graduate student Margaret Carroll who is a six-time All-BIG EAST performer and ranks in the Villanova top 10 in the indoor 5000 meters as well as outdoors in the 10000 meters. Momentum was built over the next couple years and continued with the arrival of the likes of Allen and O’Connor in 2023-24. Last year’s freshman class had Shay and Walsh, plus Martell and Nikki Vanasse in their first year on the team as graduate transfers from New Hampshire and Columbia, respectively.

Even as these athletes continue their evolution into the next great Wildcats team, they see the next wave coming behind them. During their first year of collegiate competition, Walsh and Shay ran 4:40 and 4:45 in the mile. Their PRs outdoors in the 1500 meters were 4:18 (Shay) and 4:19 (Walsh). A year earlier, O’Connor ran 4:58 in the mile and 4:26 in the 1500 meters as a collegiate rookie. Using their development as a benchmark, the future of the program is bright.

This year’s freshman class includes a large group of distance newcomers: Sophia McInnes, Zoe Mosher, Cecilia Montagnese, Maeve Smith and Gabby Pistner. They have all posted times ranging from 4:25 to 4:35 in the 1500 meters this outdoor season. All but Pistner raced the mile at least once indoors, where their top times spanned a range from 4:48 to 4:59. Sound familiar? 

“I can confidently say this team is climbing up and getting back to where I think Villanova belongs,” Shay said. “It is a cool time to be on the team because I know there is so much that is going to go down the next couple years. Our team is relatively young, so it is going to be really fun for a few years. Getting to Nationals in cross country and stepping foot on a nationally competitive line was important for our freshmen to see. I was lucky enough to see it too, and that kind of showed we were [ready] for the big stage.”

“I think our class last year brought in a lot of new energy and everybody kind of rose to new expectations,” Walsh said. “This year with the new incoming freshman class, I have nothing but positive things to say about them. They are extremely hardworking and they continue to rise to the expectations [of the program]. It is the same with the upperclassmen when you see Tilly leading cross country and absolutely crushing the 5K. In longer distances, Margaret continuing to rise and meet crazier expectations, much like the rest of the NCAA.”

Walsh touched on the current level of talent in the NCAA, which has consistently pushed women’s track & field forward by leaps and bounds in recent years. Martell echoed that sentiment, speaking to the level of collegiate competition across the board.

“It is cool to be contributing to Villanova’s legacy and improving that time,” Martell said of the team’s distance medley relay record. 

The team of Walsh, Allen, Martell and O’Connor ran 10:49.98 in the DMR, more than 2.5 seconds faster than the team of Emily Lipari, Christi Verdier, Ariann Neutts and Sheila Reid which won the 2011 national championship. 

“I think the NCAA is incredibly fast right now, but it feels good to drop the time a little bit on that record,” Martell continued. “It speaks to just how well women’s sports across the NCAA are doing right now.”

Villanova’s current generation of all-time greats were quick to make note of how their training fuels their success in competition. Allen sees the difference in being able to take her racing to a new level in her workouts.

“My training buddy this year is Kate Borton, so I have been able to train with her and us doing some really fun workouts together and kind of seeing our strength and seeing how strong we actually are,” Allen said of the feeling that she has reached a higher level. “Running with someone else, you feel yourself getting stronger and that makes it fun.”

“I am a lower volume athlete so that allows me to enjoy what I’m doing every day,” Shay said of her training. “When I am feeling fatigued, I back off and I find that other one percent that I can [get better] somewhere other than mileage. Keeping the mileage at a steady, healthy point is why those races can get better, because I can soak in the training. There is nobody I trust more in the world than Gina, and I trust her to give us a dang hard workout.

“We have these things called barn burners and they are confidence boosters," Shay continued. "Gina gives us these workouts where we’re really pushing our limits sometimes, but I think we come out of them and feel if we can do that, we’re working out harder than a race should feel for us, so we can handle anything. Gina’s training sets us up to race tough and prepare for any type of tough race. The environments we thrive in the most are not going to be the ones where it is a perfect race clicking off laps. It is going to be when we are getting in there and being tough, and I think we are lucky to have training that sets us up really well.”

“I think one big moment [in racing] is built off lots of little moments and consistency,” Martell added. “I think it’s that slow grind over time of knowing that you have put in the work and having that confidence in your training. It is not a big flashy thing. I would say the most effective workouts are the boring ones. It is about building that consistency, like lots of little moments building up to big moments.”

The 2026 outdoor season is a month old and is about to sprint towards its apex with the Penn Relays coming up this week, the BIG EAST Championships and NCAA East Preliminary next month, and the NCAA Championships in June. The consistency of preparation that the team talks about has been there all year, the incremental achievements have been checked off and celebrated, and this group is confident that all the stepping stones are in place for the next big moment to be just around the corner.