PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Senior middle distance runner McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) ran a lifetime best in the 400 meters and three other members of the Villanova distance group posted personal best times in their respective events as Villanova competed in the Temple Invite at the Temple Sports Complex on Friday afternoon. There were 11 athletes in competition for the Wildcats at the local meet.
 
Keegan won the 400 meters with a time of 54.50 and surged four spots ahead into fifth place on the all-time Villanova performance list. The fastest she had previously run in an open 400 meters was 54.6 as a scholastic runner, while her previous top collegiate time had been 54.80 from the Raleigh Relays last month. The previous mark had put Keegan ninth on the Wildcats performance list in the 400 meters, while her new top time moved her past four runners in the Villanova record book. 
 
Fifth-year senior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) was the runner-up to Keegan in Friday's race with a time of 55.49, while sophomore Brynne Sumner (Canton, Ga.) came in fourth and produced a personal best time of 56.82. Fellow sophomore Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) finished fifth in the race with a time of 56.89.
 
The quartet of Sumner, Onque-Shabazz, Martinez and Keegan later teamed up to run the 4x400 meter relay and register a winning time of 3:42.76. Martinez registered a split of 55.13 on the third leg of the relay and Keegan anchored the race with a split of 54.41 on the final leg. Keegan's fastest career 400 meter split in a relay is 54.05 and was recorded her freshman year at the Penn Relays.
 
Sophomore middle distance runner Anna Helwigh (Soborg, Denmark) and junior Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) each posted strong personal best marks in the 1500 meters. Helwigh came in second out of 16 runners with a time of 4:19.59 and cut nearly two seconds off her previous mark of 4:21.47 which came in June 2017 in her native Denmark. Olivere lowered her personal best in the 1500 meters for the second time this season. Her time of 4:20.99 was good for third place in Friday's race and beat the time of 4:22.28 she had recorded at the Raleigh Relays.
 
Also competing in the 1500 meters at the Temple meet were freshmen Elizabeth Vaughn (Dayton, Ohio) and Marcella Krautzel (Kennett Square, Pa.) who each competed in the event for the first time as collegians. Vaughn tallied a time of 4:48.91 and Krautzel crossed the finish line in 5:09.52. The event schedule for the Wildcats on Friday included the 800 meters in which sophomore Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) recorded a time of 2:15.51 and freshman Kate Flynn (Gray, Tenn.) posted a time of 2:32.83.
 
Senior sprinter Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica) was in action on Friday and registered times of 12.19 in the 100 meters and 25.69 in the 200 meters.