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Villanova women win distance medley again at Penn Relays

When Emily Lipari departed Villanova after last season having won six Penn Relays watches, she was believed to have left a hole on the anchor leg too big for the Wildcats to fill while competing against some of the best runners in the country.

Villanova's team won the College Women's Distance Medley on Thursday, April 23 at the Penn Relays. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)
Villanova's team won the College Women's Distance Medley on Thursday, April 23 at the Penn Relays. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)Read more

When Emily Lipari departed Villanova after last season having won six Penn Relays watches, she was believed to have left a hole on the anchor leg too big for the Wildcats to fill while competing against some of the best runners in the country.

But as senior Stephanie Schappert expressed with her terrific anchor leg Thursday in the women's distance-medley relay: no Lipari, no problem.

Schappert outkicked Stanford's Elise Cranny in the final 150 meters of the 1,600-meter anchor leg to lift the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive victory in the DMR on a cold and blustery day at Franklin Field.

With junior Angel Piccirillo, senior Michaela Wilkins, and freshman Siofra Cleirigh Buttner running the first three legs, all handing off the lead to the next runner, Schappert carried the Cats home in a time of 11 minutes, 9.06 seconds, winning by 15 meters over Stanford.

"You never get tired of winning," Villanova coach Gina Procaccio said. "This means a lot to us. This is huge for us. Losing Emily Lipari was huge, but I'm really, really happy for these girls, especially for Stephanie. It was her first shot at anchor and she came through like a champ. All four of them, they ran according to plan."

Schappert, the daughter of former 'Nova star Ken Schappert, was the real surprise in the race. Replacing Lipari, who anchored Villanova's wins last year in the DMR and the 4x1,500 and 4x800 relays, appeared to be a rather thankless task given the pressure facing the Wildcats at the Penn Relays, but Schappert ran a textbook leg.

Normally accustomed to running leadoff, Schappert watched Piccirillo blast off to a 20-meter lead on the opening 1,200, then saw Wilkins at 400 and Buttner at 800 push themselves to the limit to ward off challenges by Stanford and North Carolina before getting the baton.

"I was like, 'You're going to have to kill me before I give up this win,' " Schappert said.

With one lap to go, Cranny, Schappert, and North Carolina's Annie LeHardy were a tight 1-2-3. LeHardy fell back with 300 meters to go, and Schappert came up on Cranny's right shoulder at the 200 mark. Schappert kicked past Cranny 50 meters later and pushed to the line.

"You're never going to replace an Emily Lipari, a Sheila Reid," Schappert said. "So we find a new role and someone steps up. If it wasn't me, it would have been Angel. That's what we do at Villanova."

Perhaps the most shocking moment of Thursday's competition came in the heats of the women's 4x100-meter relay when two of the favorites, Oregon and LSU, failed to qualify for the final after dropping the baton. The Ducks fumbled the first handoff, while the Tigers messed up their final exchange.

Texas A&M, seeking its seventh consecutive victory in the 4x100, qualified for that final and the 4x400 final. Texas, which set a carnival record in the 4x400 last year, advanced in the same two events, as did University of Technology, Oklahoma, Hampton, and Clemson.

Texas clocked the fastest time, 45.59 seconds, in the 4x100 while UTech ran 3:37.24 to pace the 4x400 qualifiers.

@joejulesinq