PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4/29/2017 – The Villanova Wildcats finished in fourth place in the College Men’s 4 x 800 Meter Championship of America at the Penn Relays. The Wildcats fell victim to a strong Virginia Tech Hokies squad who won the title covering the distance in 7:13.75. Nova turned in a time of 7:21.18.
Virginia Tech took an early lead on a 1:48.85 run by Neal Gourley which gave the team a two second lead over the rest of the field. Third runner Drew Piazza turned in a blistering time of 1:46.95 which gave the Hokies the separation needed.
“Virginia Tech did a super job,” said Villanova Coach Marcus O’Sullivan. “They kept the pressure on the whole time, they had strong legs throughout. You keep the pressure on and everyone has a weak leg, it goes away. Penn State has a strong team, but left too much of a deficit for anyone to pull off at that point.”
Penn State finished in second place nearly seven seconds behind running a time of 7:20.54. Clemson was third recording a 7:20.94 time.
For the Wildcats Logan Wetzel ran a 1:50.95 holding third place at the time. Harry Purcell ran a 1:49.52. The third leg was run by Ishmael Muhammad who turned in a time of 1:50.91. Anchor runner Ville Lampinen was timed in 1:49.72.
“I try to look at the positives,” O’Sullivan said. “Harry Purcell had a good leg, Logan did a great job leading off.”
The Hokies team was made up of Gourley, Vincent Ciattei (1:48.75), Drew Piazza, and Patrick Joseph (1:49.21).
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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