Men's Cross Country Beats Top Two Teams in Region in Third Place Finish at Meadows Challenge

Villanova Men's Cross Country

Meadows Challenge

September 26, 2026
Meadows Campus
Princeton, N.J.

Third Place - 104 PointsVillanova defeated the top two teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region and trailed only nationally-ranked Alabama and Syracuse.

Meet Highlights

5th Place

Senior Bailey Habler led the Wildcats in 23:18.6 on the 8,000-meter course.

4 in Top 25

Four Villanova runners finished among the top 25 in a field of 162 competitors.

37.9 Seconds

The Wildcats had a spread of less than 38 seconds among their five scoring runners.

Four Wildcats in the Top 25

Bailey Habler was joined by senior CJ Sullivan in 12th place (23:26.5), junior Thomas McMahon in 21st place (23:34.5) and junior Charlie Moore in 25th place (23:39.3). Junior Jack Coomber completed the Villanova scoring lineup in 41st place (23:56.5).

National Caliber Field: Villanova finished behind only No. 4 Alabama and No. 9 Syracuse in a close 15-team race.

Complete Meet Results

Villanova Results

Runner	Place	Time
Bailey Habler	5th of 162	23:18.6
CJ Sullivan	12th	23:26.5
Thomas McMahon	21st	23:34.5
Charlie Moore	25th	23:39.3
Jack Coomber	41st	23:56.5
Jack Fenlon	44th	24:00.2
Nick Sullivan	52nd	24:06.6
Matthew McLachlan	65th	24:13.0
Ben Thomas	82nd	24:31.1
Caolan McFadden	109th	25:00.3
Cam Collier	131st	25:34.0

Team Scores

Team	Place	Points
Alabama	1st of 15	42
Syracuse	2nd	67
Villanova	3rd	104
Georgetown	4th	127
North Carolina	5th	129
Princeton	6th	156
Cornell	7th	186
Duke	8th	217
Iona	9th	277
Providence	10th	285
Boston University	11th	311
Arizona State	12th	340
Texas A&M	13th	356
Columbia	14th	409
La Salle	15th	416

Top 10 Individuals

Place	Runner	Team	Time
1st	Rodgers Minatum	Alabama	22:59.4
2nd	Duncan Gituku	Alabama	23:07.3
3rd	Benne Anderson	Syracuse	23:11.2
4th	Dismus Lokira	Alabama	23:17.3
5th	Bailey Habler	Villanova	23:18.6
6th	Freddy Collins	Boston University	23:20.8
7th	Birhanu Harriman	Georgetown	23:21.3
8th	Jacob Nenow	Princeton	23:23.1
9th	Joe O'Brien	Georgetown	23:24.5
10th	Ben Gabelman	Syracuse	23:26.3