Penn Relays: Villanova women pull off stunner in 4x1,500
Speed was a consideration. This was a race, after all. Strength and stamina were part of the coach's calculus, too.
Speed was a consideration.
This was a race, after all.
Strength and stamina were part of the coach's calculus, too.
This was a distance race, remember.
But when Villanova coach Gina Procaccio cobbled together her lineup for its long shot of winning the 4x1,500-meter Championship of America race on Friday at the 122nd annual Penn Relays, she looked deeper than split times and personal bests.
"In the way back in my mind, I always try to win at Penn," Procaccio said after the Wildcats' dramatic victory in one of the featured events of the long day of competition at Franklin Field. "I just looked at: Who are four toughest kids on my team?"
Success in one of the showcase races at the world's oldest and largest track and field carnival was nothing new for the Wildcats.
The Villanova men's and women's teams have trophy cases stuffed with "Wheels" - the large, engraved plates that commemorate victory in the Penn Relays' most prestigious events.
This was different.
This was a victory that thrilled the crowd on a chilly, overcast afternoon, that surprised Villanova's competitors and that even seemed to stun the Wildcats' coach, who shook her head in wonder after a team with three freshmen and a sophomore exceeded her expectations.
"Wow," Procaccio said when asked to make an opening statement at the post-race news conference.
Wow was right.
Villanova entered the race as a heavy underdog, with Procaccio admitting that "on paper we were lacking when you put times next to other teams."
Plus, the Wildcats' first three runners - Bella Burda, Sammy Bockoven and Nicole Hutchinson - were freshmen, novices on the big stage of the Penn Relays.
"None," Procaccio said of the combined experience of the first three legs.
But Procaccio knew her team had an "awesome anchor" in sophomore Siofra Cleirigh Buttner, whose thunderous kick over the final 200 meters secured the victory and immediately joined the long list of legendary Villanova moments at the Penn Relays.
Cleirigh Buttner was the heroine, for sure. But the native of Dublin, Ireland, said the fuel for her remarkable surge at the end of her anchor leg came from watching her teammates circle the track and pass the baton, and the Wildcats' hopes, forward.
"I watched every other girl give it their all, give their hearts and guts to each leg," Cleirigh Buttner said. "I know I wasn't going to give that up."
This was supposed to be the Penn Relays when the Villanova women's team receded a bit to the background, with star senior Angel Piccirillo out of action as she redshirts this spring season to recuperate from a foot injury.
Georgetown's imposing victory on Thursday in the distance medley relay - a race Villanova had won four years in a row - seemed to confirm the notion that this wasn't going to be the Wildcats' time to shine.
The four members of the 4x1,500 relay had other ideas.
The race is a grueling competition, with each athlete running just less than four laps around the 400-meter track.
Burda opened with a split of 4 minutes, 29.7 seconds. Bockoven moved the Wildcats up with a strong leg in 4:22.7. Hutchinson kept the team in contention with a 4:30.2 and Cleirigh Buttner sealed the deal with a 4:21.7 anchor, swiping the air with the baton in celebration at the finish line.
"I was proud of every single leg," Procaccio said. "Every leg was competing, every leg was so tough. That's all I can ask."
Procaccio was asked about the "culture" of Villanova track and cross-country, the intangible quality that makes the Wildcats such a successful program.
It's not speed, although these are races.
It's not strength and stamina, although the team specializes in distance races.
It's something else.
"It's toughness," Procaccio said. "I'll take a tough kid with a little bit of talent over a talented softy any day."
@PhilAnastasia