PRINCETON, N.J.—A spread of less than a minute between the five scoring runners for Villanova was a successful formula in a strong team finish at the Princeton Fall Classic on Friday morning. Racing in a field of 22 teams which featured several of the top squads in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the Wildcats scored 141 points and placed fifth in what shaped up as a close team race. Just 82 points separated the top five teams, with an even smaller margin of 21 points separating third through fifth place in the standings.
Senior Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) led the Wildcats with a ninth place finish and ran the 6,000 meter race on the Meadows Campus Course in 19:48.6. It was the team performance which wound up being most significant for Villanova however, as seniors Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) and Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) also finished in the top 25 of a field with 249 runners. McGill placed 21st with a time of 20:11.3 in her season debut and Carroll came on strong to finish 25th in 20:14.2. Carroll moved up 13 spots in the pack during the second half of the race.
All five of the Wildcats scorers were among the 50 finishers. Senior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) finished 41st with a time of 20:36.4 and freshman Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) was 46th in 20:42.1. The top five in the Villanova lineup were separated by just 53.5 seconds at the finish line…