Ryan helps ’Nova women win 3rd straight 4 x 1,500
PHILADELPHIA » For a rookie running in her first Penn Relays, Villanova freshman Lauren Ryan handled the pressure quite well. So the Wildcats have their second Championship of America wheel in as many days.
Ryan’s kick in the third leg of the college women’s 4 x 1,500-meter relay set the stage for junior Nicole Hutchinson to pull away on the anchor leg and give the Wildcats their third straight title in the event, fourth in the last five years and 12th overall, with a nearly six-second victory over Indiana with a time of 11 minutes, 35.48 seconds.
The 4 x 1,500 victory came on the heels of Thursday’s triumph in the DMR and sets the stage for the Wildcats to pull off the distance relay triple for the second year in a row in the 4 x 800 Saturday. It also was the 14th victory in the last 17 starts at the Relays for the women’s team since 2012.
The latest win would not have been possible if not for the gutty effort by Ryan, along with Kelsey Margey in the leadoff spot and Kaley Ciluffo in the second leg.
“I thought my best was to go out and put myself in good position,” Ryan said. “I didn’t want to go out too hot and blow up. I think putting myself where I did was the right decision. I paced it well and I had a good kick at the end. I wanted to make sure I had enough at the end so when I handed it off, I put Hutch in the best position I could.”
That’s just what Villanova coach Gina Procaccio wanted from Margey, Ciluffo and Ryan.
“I pretty much told them all that you don’t have to be a hero,” Procaccio said. “All you have to do is put the anchor in the race and she’ll get it done.”
Margey, who was making her return to Penn for the first time since 2015, and Ciluffo did their part. They kept it close for the first half of the 6,000-meter race.
Ryan was in third place when she received the baton from Ciluffo, a junior. Ryan quickly moved into second place, but was well behind the leader, Haley Harris of Indiana. Ryan trailed Harris by as many as 25 meters before she made her move with about 100 meters to go.
The Australian kicked into high gear and cut that deficit to around five meters, which Hutchinson quickly made up.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Ryan, who had a 4:25.1 split. “There was pressure on me to run well. I was actually sick last week and I was happy to come out and get the job done for the team.”
Not bad for a Penn Relays rookie.
“From what I’ve heard from past Australians that have been here and from my teammates that it’s one of the best atmosphere’s to run in,” Ryan said. “Running out there today, it was a crowd I’ve never ran with before. It was amazing. Everyone was behind us for it … It was a great start to my freshman year.”
Once Hutchinson got the baton, the outcome was decided. She took the lead and then slowly pulled away from Indiana’s Katherine Receveur. Hutchinson looked over her right shoulder in the final 100 meters just to make sure and thrust her right hand in the air as she crossed the finish line.
“Watching them run with so much heart,” Hutchinson said, “and watching Lauren kick it in to get it to me as close as she could I just knew that I was going to work my way up within the first lap and I felt confident that I could get the job done.”