Etrain Team Power Rankings: #5 Villanova Wildcats

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears
#21 Furman Paladins
#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals
#01 Colorado Buffalos

5. Villanova Wildcats

Flotrack’s #5: Mississippi Rebels

Coach: Marcus O’Sullivan

Notable Departures: Sam McEntee, Brian Basili
Notable Additions: Casey Comber, Andrew Marston, Paul Power

Projected Scoring Five: Patrick Tiernan (JR) [ET#4], Jordy Williamsz (SR) [ET#49], Robert Denault (SR), Henry Warnik (JR), Andrew Marston (FR)

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What’s not to like about the Wildcats? The team that has had the reputation as a mid-distance powerhouse during track is now getting recognized during XC as well. I love what this team can bring to the table in terms of experience this year. They’ll need to make some adjustments, but Coach O’Sullivan is more than capable of making those changes.

The Wildcats began last season with everyone knowing who they were and what they were capable of. They seemed to be the X-factor team of the NCAA last season that could either go up or down in the rankings. After letting the B-team open up the season for Villanova at the Big 5 Invite, the leaders of the squads took their talents to the Main Line Invite. No team scores were recorded, but Tiernan did place 2^nd overall leading the rest of the squad. Basili and Warnick placed 4^th and 5^th overall while Corbusier and O’Sullivan placed 12^th and 17^th respectively. Of course, the trio of milers were yet to make their debut. Williamsz, McEntee, and Denault would kick off their season at the Paul Short Invite, a course known to be very friendly to mile-oriented runners. Sure enough, Williamsz and McEntee would take advantage of the fast course placing 5^th and 6^th respectively. Denault would fall off those two and finish 12^th, but overall it was a very solid performance from the milers who didn’t have Tiernan, Basili, Warnick, or O’Sullivan. The separate success was exciting, but when would we actually get to see the Wildcats race all together? Villanova took their guys out to the Washington Invite to test their skills. Would we see Tiernan and the trio of milers race together at this one? That answer was no. However, Tiernan did grab an extremely impressive win over favorite Futsum Zienasellassie. Although Villanova placed 7^th overall, the Wildcats were still able to confirm what they already knew: they had a reliable low-stick. The Princeton Invite was next and it seemed clear at this point what Coach O’Sullivan was doing. He wanted to keep his full A-team in hiding and only gives glimpses of what this team had. The Princeton XC Invite included Warnick, Basili, and the three milers, but we would not see Patrick Tiernan in this one. Even without Tiernan, Nova would pull away from some top Ivy league teams as well as Virginia Tech and get a win under their belt. Villanova would crowd spots 7 through 11 to give the Wildcats a total score of 45 points and defeat Virginia Tech by 26. Finally, it was the post-season and the Wildcats had to show the cards they had in their hand…and they didn’t disappoint. The Wildcats took Big East’s by storm by taking the top three spots. Denault and Basili would finish up the scoring by placing 6^th and 11^th. Villanova dominated a strong Georgetown team who simply couldn’t hang. With so much firepower and depth, it was hard not to like Villanova. The next week was Northeast regionals and Villanova meet up with Georgetown again as well as Penn State and Princeton. Despite the strong teams, Villanova was still the heavy favorites and they executed. Tiernan grabbed second to Penn State’s Matt Fischer in a surprise individual upset. That, however, didn’t effect the rest of the team as Denault stepped up to grab 4^th. McEntee would place 7^th, Williamsz would finish 13^th, and Basili would close the scoring at 15^th. It was another outstanding display of talent in an underrated regional race. At the rate they were going, the Wildcats could get a podium spot. Villanova took the trip from Pennsylvania to Indiana where a cold Terre Haute course awaited them. It would be a battle for positioning all throughout the race and the pack that was usually so close, would need to keep their pack tight if they were to succeed. The Wildcats could make the podium, but would need more than just a ‘good’ performance to get there. The gun went off and Patrick Tiernan did his thing. The Wildcat leader had placed 9^th in 2013 so his 18^th place finish wasn’t exactly ideal. Nonetheless, the rest of the team kept their pack tight and the trio of milers (Denault, McEntee, Williamsz) kept it close as expected and took spots 56, 57, and 58 (respectively). It was arguably one of the best pack running performances of the day. The problem came with 5^th man Brian Basili who fell off from that pack and finished in 86^th place and driving up the score. Overall, the Wildcats finished 7^th as a team. It was still a performance to be happy about, but what were the factors that made the difference? To start, Tiernan’s 18^th place didn’t match his 9^th place performance from 2013. It wasn’t a huge difference, but 9 points is 9 points. It also didn’t help that Basili fell off the pack and dropped to 86^th, which was roughly 27 points more than if he had stuck with the trio. If those 36 points had been dropped from Villanova’s score, they would’ve finished 5^th overall and been (about) 6 points away from the podium. Their performance was good, just not great.

Villanova enters this season as an established powerhouse team that returns a star in Patrick Tiernan as well as consistent individuals like Williamsz and Denault. They will have a massive impact this year just like did last year. I really like the room for improvement that Williamsz and Denault have this year. They showed that they weren’t perfect, but that they could greatly contribute. Williamsz took the 49^th spot on top 50 list and Denault was a just miss. I believe that both of these guys can make All-American and complement their leader, Patrick Tiernan. The 4^th man will most likely go to Henry (Harry?) Warnick, who made appearances as a scorer last season. I really like Warnick because I think he’s super underrated and he’s also been extremely consistent. Yes, his 124^th place at NCAA’s wasn’t ideal, but now the rising junior has some experience and understands what it’s like to be a top guy on top team. I expect him to get to where the trio of milers were last season (or at least close to that level). The only issue I have with this team is the fifth man. The graduation of Basili leaves a huge hole in how the Wildcats are going to keep their score low. I’m not completely sold on Kevin Corbusier yet. I need to see more of him before I can give him the fifth spot. Could he be a scorer? Absolutely. I just want to see it first. Maybe it’s because I grew up racing against some of these and watching them grow, but the trio that is Marston, Comber, and Power are huge additions to this squad. I feel like they fit perfectly in this system and can have a huge impact even as a freshman. Comber was a footlocker finalist. Power shocked the PA community when he upset James at Foundation and went on to run sub-9. Marston is the third fastest individual to ever run the PA State’s course. All of these guys seem to be true long distance guys and should excel in cross country. It honestly, could be any of these guys, but I’ll put down Marston simply because I think he’s undervalued. Still, even with these three coming into the Villanova program, I’m not completely confident about how the Wildcats are going to address this 5^th man. Whoever it is just needs to know that a shot at the podium starts with them.

When looking at Flotrack’s ranking of #6 for Villanova, I could understand where they were coming from. I put Ole Miss behind Villanova because the Wildcats are more established. I want to see how Mississippi balances all of their new tranfers before I can feel comfortable about putting them ahead of Nova. Still, it’s a fair spot and reasonable considering the loss of McEntee and Basili.