Complete Villanova Results

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.--Sophomore sprinter Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica) and freshman distance runner Alex Harris (Stony Point, N.Y.) each won the invitational sections of their events against strong competition at the FastTrack National Invite on Friday afternoon, while freshman Cala Lejman (Ambler, Pa.) tallied a victory in the college section of the pole vault at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex. There were a total of 18 athletes competing for the Wildcats at Friday's highly competitive meet.

Williamson recorded the second-fastest time in school history in the 60 meter dash for the second straight week. She is the Villanova record holder in the event with a personal best mark of 7.41, and in Friday's meet she posted a time of 7.45 to win the final of the event. Williamson had the fastest time out of 67 competitors in the preliminary heats when she ran 7.54, and she cut nearly a tenth of a second off that time a short while later in the final.

There were three Wildcats in the invitational section of the Mile, in which Harris posted a winning time of 4:49.05 to pace a field of 40 competitors. Harris made a strong kick during the bell lap of the race and passed two other runners in the final 200 meters. She held off the runner-up from Princeton by a quarter of a second, while the third and fourth place finishers were also less than six-tenths of a second off Harris' winning pace. The time of 4:49.05 for Harris is a personal best and cuts nearly eight seconds off the mark of 4:56.89 she recorded at the Columbia Challenge two weeks ago.

Sophomore sprinter Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.) led Villanova in the 60 meter hurdles and in the invitational section of the 200 meters at the meet. She set a new personal best in the hurdles with a time of 8.67 during the preliminary heats, which was fast enough to win her heat and finish eighth overall out of 62 competitors during the preliminary round. Burns advanced to the final and came in eighth in the final with a time of 8.81. She was later back on the track for the 200 meters, where she finished third in her heat and 11th overall in 25.23. Pending the results from other meets this weekend, Burns currently ranks third in the BIG EAST in the 60 meter hurdles and ninth in the 200 meters this season.

Villanova had three athletes each in the college and invitational sections of the pole vault. Lejman was the top finisher out of the 18 competitors in the college section with a season best height of 3.65 meters. She was tied for second place in the section after clearing a height of 3.50 meters on her third and final try, then moved into first place when she cleared 3.65 meters on her first attempt. Sophomores Ava Coleman (Southington, Conn.) and Jessica Lee (Kailua, Hawaii) each had successful attempts at 3.35 meters to tie for fourth and seventh places, respectively.

In the invitational section of the pole vault, redshirt freshman Dominique Franco (Richboro, Pa.) finished fifth with a height of 3.60 meters. She was making her official Wildcats debut at the meet and had successful attempts at 3.45 meters and 3.60 meters before being eliminated when the bar was raised another 15 centimeters to a height of 3.75. Franco cleared 3.60 on her first attempt and finished just ahead of freshman Amanda McNelis (Commack, N.Y.), who was successful at 3.60 on her second try and tied for sixth place. Junior Adeline Scelzi (Glen Allen, Va.) tied for eighth with a height of 3.45 meters.

Click on the link at the top of this release for complete Villanova results from the FastTrack National Invite.