PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - As three days of non-stop action at the Penn Relays began to wind down, there was one more race for Villanova to run. In the ECAC section of the 4x400 meter relay, a quartet of freshman Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.), junior Sidney Hayes (Spring Grove, Pa.), senior Veronica Scott (Plymouth, N.H.) and freshman Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) recorded a time of 3:43.28 to finish in second place out of seven teams.

Villanova advanced out of the preliminary heats of the 4x400 meter relay after finishing 20th out of 68 teams on Thursday evening. Saturday's race marked the first time since 2008 that the Wildcats ran in the ECAC section of the 4x400 relay. While the team's distance relays took center stage for pulling off a rare triple at the Penn Relays this weekend, there continues to be a lot to like about Villanova's 4x400 relay personnel.

Hayes is an important veteran on the relay unit, having run the anchor leg in an All-BIG EAST performance outdoors in 2015 and leading off the Wildcats conference champion 4x400 relay earlier this year. Scott's individual specialty is the 400 meter hurdles, in which she is ranked third in the BIG EAST this season, but her split of 56.19 on the third leg of Saturday's race would have been a personal best if it were an open race.

This weekend was a very good one for Burns, who recorded a personal best time in the championship section of the 400 meter hurdles on Thursday morning. She has been coming along quickly in both the short and long hurdle races in her first collegiate outdoor campaign, and is starting to emerge as a contributor in the relays as well. Onque-Shabazz split 54.99 on the anchor leg of Saturday's race. Her previous fastest 400 meter split was 56.16 on a distance medley relay during the indoor season.

Villanova has more within reach with the 4x400 relay this season, and the key to the squad's success is in its depth. In addition to the quartet of Burns, Hayes, Scott and Onque-Shabazz which ran Saturday's race, freshman McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) is a 400 meter specialist whose versatility was part of the Wildcats success in the distance events this weekend. In addition, stalwarts such as junior Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Dublin, Ireland) and senior Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) ran the 4x400 relay during the indoor season, and Cleirigh Buttner has split as fast as 52.6 in a 400 meter segment.

The top time for the Wildcats in the 4x400 relay so far this season is 3:39.74 at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational on April 8. It is the 10th-fastest time in school history, and came on the heels of the mark of 3:42.06 from the indoor BIG EAST Championships which ranks third on the program's all-time indoor list.

Most likely, the next opportunity for Villanova to continue lowering its times in the 4x400 relay will be during the BIG EAST Championships on May 12-13. The conference meet returns to Villanova Stadium for the second time in the last three seasons.