New England Indoor Mile Champ Commits to Villanova

As the article below details, Marcus O'Sullivan garnered another recruit over the weekend, as Fairfield, CT's Harry Warnick committed to run for the Wildcats. Warnick finished a solid 13th last November at the Foot Locker Northeast cross country regional, running 16:20.40 over the 5K course. Last month in Boston, Warnick won the New England indoor championship in the mile, in 4:20.22. He doubled back in the same meet to finish 8th in the two mile, in 9:33.31.

Fairfield Warde Track Star Commits to Villanova

Tom Renner, The Daily Fairfield
April 1, 2012

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The mile is the favorite event of Fairfield Warde senior Harry Warnick. Next year, he’ll be running for a college program at Villanova University that has a pedigree second-to-none in developing runners for that particular distance.

Warnick committed over the weekend to attend Villanova University. The Philadelphia-based school is coached Marcus O’Sullivan, a former star at the school who is one of three runners to run more than 100 sub four minute miles.

“The mile is my favorite event, so to go to a school that has such a great history in that race is great,’’ Warnick said. “I’m hoping I can run some great races for him.”

O’Sullivan is one of many great milers to compete for Villanova, including Eamonn Coghlan, Marty Liquori and Dick Buerkle. Outstanding women distance runners Jen Rhines and Sonia O’Sullivan also ran for the Wildcats.

Warnick was interested in Villanova for a while, but the school became the front-runner when it raised its financial aid package. Wake Forest, Boston College and American University also had offers on the table. None of them, however, come close to matching the running pedigree of the Wildcats, who have won the Big East outdoor championship the past two years.

“Marcus is a great coach and it’s a prestigious running program,’’ Warnick said. “That was a big swing on their side. And they have a strong business program, which was another factor. All of them played a role in my decision.”

Warnick jumped on the radar of a lot college coaches with a breakout junior season in cross country and track. He cemented that interest this year, when he finished second in the State Open in cross country. He took third in the State Open in the 1600 meters in February, but came back to win the New England championship in the mile in early March.

Matt Kane, another former Fairfield Warde runner, is a junior at Villanova. The Wildcats also have a strong history of success in the Penn Relays, one of the most prestigious outdoor meets in the world. Warnick will run at the Penn Relays later this month in the high school division to get a taste of the event firsthand.

“Matt has been a good runner for them and they knew I was still interested in going there,” Warnick said. “I’m glad we were able to work it out.”

Harry’s siblings Sam and Sophie are also seniors at Warde. Sam will attend the College of College of Charleston, while Sophie has narrowed her list to two schools.