BOSTON, Mass.—Sophomore distance runner
Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) and freshman
Brynne Sumner (Canton, Ga.) each recorded personal bests in the Mile during competition at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday evening. Villanova competed in both the 800 meters and the Mile during the meet at the Track & Tennis Center.
Olivere lowered her lifetime best in the Mile by nearly five seconds and crossed the finish line in 4:44.90. She ran in the second-fastest heat out of 17 sections of the Mile and came in 11
th in a race that featured both collegiate and professional runners. Her previous fastest time in the Mile had been 4:49.75 during her scholastic career. Olivere had run the Mile once so far this season in a meet at Navy last month.
The freshman duo of Sumner and
Anna Helwigh (Soborg, Denmark) rounded out the Wildcats entries in the Mile. Sumner came in sixth in her heat with a time of 4:48.48 to beat her previous best time of 4:49.40 set in high school by nearly a second. Helwigh finished third in her section and posted a time of 4:53.27 which was just over a quarter-second off the PR she established at the Dr. Sander Invitational/Columbia Challenge last month.
Villanova began the day in Boston with several athletes competing in the 800 meters. The first on the track was
McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) who is competing unattached during the indoor season. Keegan won her heat in 2:05.98 while ranking 10
th overall out of more than 250 competitors who took to the track for the 800 meters.
More of the Wildcats strong young talent in the middle distances was on display in the later heats. Freshman
Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) led the way for the Villanova entries with a time of 2:10.04. She was followed by classmate
Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) who crossed the finish line in 2:12.56 and senior
Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) who tallied a time of 2:13.60.
A larger contingent of Wildcats were in action in New York at the FastTrack National Invitational which was wrapping up competition late on Friday night. Those results will be posted later in the evening.
