STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.—Graduate transfer thrower Jul Thomson (Otterville, Ont.) had a successful Villanova debut with strong results in the shot put and the weight throw, sophomore sprinter Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) registered a personal best time in the 400 meters and freshman high jumper Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) recorded one of the best marks in school history in her event during competition at the Villanova Indoor Meet at Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex on Friday afternoon.
 
Clayton became only the third women's athlete in program history to clear the high jump bar at a height of at least 1.80 meters when she recorded a personal best with her mark of 1.80 meters during Friday's meet. Clayton is now ranked third in school history in the high jump behind Peggy Stewart (1.81m) and current school record holder and teammate Sanaä Barnes (1.84m). The mark of 1.80 meters is tied for the ninth-best on the Wildcats all-time list, including tied for the sixth best indoor mark.
 
Earlier this season Clayton made her collegiate debut by jumping 1.72 meters in a dual meet at Army West Point. Friday was her second outing and she came into the competition with a successful attempt at 1.65 meters. Clayton then made it over the bar at 1.75 meters on her second try to tie her previous personal best which had been set at the JAAA Carifta Trials on April 6, 2019. She also made it over the bar at 1.80 meters on her second attempt before missing on three tries at 1.82 meters.
 
Thomson made her Villanova debut on Friday by recording marks of 12.74 meters in the shot put and 15.48 meters in the weight throw. Although neither mark was a personal best, they each put her onto the Wildcats all-time performance list. Thomson put herself into fourth place on the program's all-time list in the weight throw and into seventh place in the shot put. She competed at Dartmouth during her undergraduate career and was an Ivy League scorer in the weight throw last year.
 
Fellow graduate transfer Grayce French (Ridgeland, S.C.), who set the Villanova record in the shot put in her own Wildcats debut earlier this year, came in first in the event on Friday with a throw of 14.36 meters. In her three competitions this season French has tallied three of the top six marks in school history in the shot put. She recorded first place finishes in both Friday's home meet and last week at the Husky Field Event Challenge in Connecticut. Junior Emily Galvin (Pitman, N.J.) registered marks of 11.28 meters in the shot put and 13.96 meters in the weight throw on Friday.
 
Martinez and senior sprinter McKenna Keegan (Avon Grove, Pa.) led Villanova in the with fast times in the 400 meters. Keegan, who is a qualifier for the NCAA Championships next week in the 800 meters and was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year earlier this week, won the 400 meters with a time of 55.27, coming in less than a second ahead of Wildcats fifth-year senior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) who was an unattached runner and crossed the finish line in 56.15. Martinez came in third with a personal best mark of 56.86, beating the time of 57.56 she had run in high school.
 
Several other members of the Villanova sprint group were in action during Friday's meet, including senior Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.) who competed in a Wildcats singlet for the first time since the 2019 outdoor campaign after redshirting the 2019-20 indoor season. Burns posted times of 8.03 in the 60 meters and 26.41 in the 200 meters in her return. Redshirt freshman Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.) was the runner-up in the 60 meters with a time of 7.78, junior Jada Thomas (Kingston, Jamaica) led Villanova with a runner-up finish in the 60 meter hurdles (9.07) and junior Liv Morgan (Bronx, N.Y.) came in sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 26.22.