Marco Langon anchors Villanova to a second-place finish in the college men’s DMR
The senior standout was frustrated after his team’s finish in the college men’s distance medley championship, which featured a star-studded crew: “It’s either you win or you lose.”
He wasn’t hiding it. Marco Langon vocally expressed his frustration after anchoring Villanova to a second-place finish in the Penn Relay’s college men’s distance medley championship.
“This is one of the worst things you could do,” Langon said on Friday at Franklin Field. “But I just need to forget about it and move on to tomorrow. Apologies to my teammates. … It doesn’t matter how hard you run, if you don’t get the job done. There’s almost no pride in that.”
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Langon, hanging in a pack with Oregon’s Simeon Birnbaum, Washington’s Reuben Reina, Michigan’s Henry Dixon, and Virginia’s Gary Martin, picked up the pace earlier than expected in the final lap of the mile.
He started to break away, but was still neck and neck with the Oregon star. On the 100-meter stretch, Langon and Birnbaum sprinted alongside one another. Looking to get any possible edge he could, the Villanova senior threw himself across the finish line and collapsed to the ground.
His legs were bleeding, and his hands were folded onto his face. Oregon came in first, clocking in at 9 minutes, 32.08 seconds. Villanova, with Ben Thomas (first leg), Ethan Walls (second), and Dan Watcke (third) running the other legs, finished at 9:32.18.
“It’s one of those races that if you’re in the front as a strength runner, it’s almost impossible to get around you,” Langon said. “I wasn’t smart enough to go around, and anytime I tried to throw in a move, they already had the step ahead. I tried changing my cadence, spinning the wheels, and just didn’t get the job done.”
While Langon was disappointed and took blame for not bringing the Wildcats home a Penn Relays wheel in the DMR, the group’s second-place finish beats last year’s performance, when they finished fifth with a time of 9:28.14. The last time Villanova won the championship was in 2024 at 9:35.90.
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It also adds another impressive performance to Langon’s 2026 campaign.
The Raritan, N.J., native had big shoes to fill this season with Liam Murphy graduating from the program, and he’s certainly done that.
In January, Langon ran a personal best 7:34.56, the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history, in the 3,000 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. He broke his own school record in the same event in February with a time of 7:34.00 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and qualified for the indoor NCAA championship in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters for the second straight year.
He came third in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA indoor meet. But for Langon, building a legacy doesn’t matter if you aren’t winning.
“It’s either you win or you lose, there’s no in between,” Langon said. “Legacy is just another word for ego. Legacy is not important to me. I’m here to represent Villanova. I’m not here to represent myself. … I’m here to represent the school and do the best I can. And once I start running professionally, then I can start worrying about myself and the brand I’m represented by. But until then, I represent Villanova.”
He’ll have another chance to help the Wildcats achieve a Relay wheel on Saturday in the college men’s 4xMile championship (1:05 p.m.).
Martin’s Relay goodbye
Martin, an Archbishop Wood graduate, anchored Virginia to finish third in the DMR, at 9:33.13. While it wasn’t his best race, he said, it’s good practice for other events.
The senior is closing in on the end of his collegiate career with Virginia. His final race at the Penn Relays will be the 4xMile, a specialty of his.
Martin ran a 3:48.82 mile at the 2025 Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile in February, which ranks as the second-fastest indoor mile in NCAA history and the ninth-fastest by any runner ever. He also set the high school boys’ mile record at the Penn Relays in 2022, when he nearly ran a sub-four-minute mile at 4:01.04.
“Two years ago, our team ran the fourth-fastest [mile time] in [collegiate] history,” Martin said. “I think it’s just a testament to how good college guys are right now. So just to be able to go out and run against all those people is going to be pretty exciting.”
Whittaker takes the stage
Juliette Whittaker, the sister of former Penn standout Isabella Whittaker, competed in her final Penn Relays with Stanford, which took second (10.36.90) in the college women’s DMR championship. North Carolina finished first, setting a Penn Relays record at 10:36.82.
Whittaker, a two-time NCAA 800-meter champion, competed with the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Her sister was in attendance for the Relays on Friday and held the finish line banner for the DMR event.
Juliette will compete in the 4x800 meter on Saturday (2:05 p.m.)
