Villanova outkicks the competition for its 21st win in the 4xmile competition at the Penn Relays

When Villanova distance runner Liam Murphy came around the final turn in the men’s college 4xmile at Penn Relays on Saturday, it was a familiar feeling.

The day before, Murphy had anchored the Wildcats in the men’s distance medley relay, looking for Villanova’s 26th victory in that event at the Penn Relays. Villanova was in the front of the pack for most of the race, with Murphy leading for most of the final leg. It all came down to the last lap, and Wisconsin ultimately outkicked the Wildcats to win the race by just over a second.

Murphy wasn’t about to let that happen Saturday.

“My coaches told me I probably went a little too early [in the distance medley],” Murphy said. “I was kind of forced to make that move, with the guys coming around my shoulder, so I definitely wanted to wait longer today. At one point, I kind of think I waited a little too long. I was in the fourth lane. But I trusted my coaches, and I trusted my teammates who were saying [Friday]: ‘Just wait as long as you can, and if you’re the last one to go, it will pay off.’ So I did, and I was luckily able to have a little bit left for the anchor, compared to [Friday].”

In the final straight of the 4xmile, it was anyone’s race. Nine teams jostled for the lead.

“It got really physical,” Murphy said. “Guys trying to find the position they wanted to be in, and a lot of shoving and tripping. So I just kind of tried to stay out of it, because now I’d get tripped up, and just wait and run the race I wanted to.”

This time, it was his kick that separated Villanova from the pack — including Wisconsin, which finished in second — and Murphy raised his arms in jubilation as he broke the tape. The Wildcats secured their 21st victory in the Penn Relays event, the most of any school.

Murphy finished with a 4:10.20 split, putting the Wildcats’ final result at 16:14.03 — just 0.21 seconds faster than Wisconsin and 0.28 seconds faster than third-place Washington.

Graduate student Charlie O’Donovan was also part of both relay teams. In the 4xmile, he ran the second leg for the Wildcats in 4:01.8. The day before, he’d run the 1,200-meter leg of the distance medley relay in 2:53.71.

“[Friday] was fuel for the fire. Every leg, but especially the final leg, is a game of chess, and pretty much it’s a tactical game,” O’Donovan said. “I think we learned a lot from [Friday]. It’s a game of winning and losing at the Penn Relays, and we lost very, very marginally [Friday] — and that fueled us today.”

This time last year, Gary Martin was breaking a nine-year Penn Relays record for the high school mile, before heading to his senior prom . This weekend looked a little different. The college freshman didn’t have a prom to rush off to, and he was at Franklin Field in a Virginia singlet, rather than one from Archbishop Wood.

One thing was the same: he still ran the mile, this time, as part of Virginia’s 4xmile relay team that finished in fourth, with a time of 16:14.48, just .45 seconds off Villanova’s winning time.

Martin also helped Virginia to a third-place finish in the distance medley relay and eighth place in the 4x800.

“It’s honestly just as much energy as it was last year,” Martin said. “It was really cool just walking around and seeing people from Pennsylvania who I knew or people who were just wishing me good luck. It was a really good atmosphere, and you could feel the energy when you’re running.”

Though the rain obviously didn’t help, the attendance this weekend was a talking point among Relays organizers. They reversed the traditional order of the first two days’ events, putting high school boys’ races on Thursday, and girls’ races on Friday.

Thursday’s announced crowd was 23,824, Friday’s in the worst weather was 28,282, and Saturday’s was 39,243. The three-day total was 91,349, lower than last year’s 92,751, and the lowest total since 1998.

Next year, the schedule will go back to what it was, with the aim of alternating it year by year. And it’s an Olympic year, which should raise the interest level.