PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Graduate student Grayce French (Ridgeland, S.C.) broke the school record in the discus for the second time in a span of nine days at the during competition at the Philadelphia Big 5 Meet at Franklin Field on Saturday afternoon. This time it was her own record that French was breaking, as she threw for a lifetime best mark of 50.90 meters to highlight a strong day of competition for Villanova in their third local meet of the young outdoor season.
 
French previously broke a record that had stood since 2003 while competing at the Raleigh Relays on March 26 when she recorded a mark of 50.39 meters. Saturday's mark not only extends her own record but moved her into 24^th place on the season's East region qualifying list. With a new regional format in place for the 2021 season, the top 32 declared athletes in each event will be selected for the NCAA East Preliminary which is held at the end of May.
 
It was a strong day all-around for the Wildcats throwing group. French finished first in the shot put with a mark of 14.50 meters and came in second in the discus, while fellow graduate transfer Jul Thomson (Otterville, Ont.) had a sensational meet with personal bests in the shot put, the discus and the hammer. Thomson moved into seventh place on the all-time Villanova performance list in the shot put with a throw of 13.27 meters. She also threw for 46.15 meters in the discus and 47.47 meters in the hammer; Thomson already ranks fifth in the hammer and sixth in the discus in the Wildcats record book.
 
Junior thrower Emily Galvin (Pitman, N.J.) came in first in the hammer with a mark of 48.50 meters and threw the shot put for 11.03 meters. Junior multi-event athlete Liv Morgan (Bronx, N.Y.) tallied a first place finish in the javelin with a mark of 38.65 meters, while freshman thrower Teresa Rotolo (Warren, N.J.) recorded a personal best throw of 38.41 meters. Morgan also finished seventh in the shot put (10.79m) and senior Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) was eighth (9.44m).
 
In the other field events, junior pole vaulter Ashley Preston (Franklinville, N.J.) came in first with a height of 3.95 meters in her second meet of the season. Senior Cala Lejman (Ambler, Pa.) cleared the bar at a height of 3.50 meters to place third. Freshman high jumper Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) notched a runner-up finish in her event with a height of 1.75 meters.
 
Senior sprinter Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica) finished first out of 12 competitors in the 100 meters in 12.24 and later was the runner-up in the 200 meters with a time of 25.20.
 
Villanova got strong results from its trio of long jumpers and 100 meter runners, with junior Trinity Hart (Scotch Plains, N.J.), junior Jennifer Barbour (Middletown, Conn.) and sophomore Faith Robinson (St. Louis Park, Minn.) each competing in both events. Hart finished third in the 100 meters with a personal best time of 12.35 and came in fourth in the long jump where she was one centimeter off matching a personal best with her mark of 5.62 meters (her PR of 5.63 meters was set last week). Barbour recorded a personal best time of 12.81 in the 100 meters and finished sixth in the long jump where she tied her PR of 5.25 meters. Robinson posted marks of 12.82 in the 100 meters and 5.36 meters in the long jump.
 
Junior sprinter Jada Thomas (Kingston, Jamaica) came in second in the 100 meter hurdles in 14.27 and placed sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 25.87. She was followed by senior Sarah Jones (Sewell, N.J.) who posted times of 14.91 in the hurdles and 27.30 in the 200 meters. Freshman Caroline Carlson (Miami, Fla.) ran the 200 meters in 28.26, while sophomore Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth, R.I.) posted times of 28.43 in the 200 meters and 1:01.18 in the 400 meters.
 
Villanova will be back in action this coming Friday and Saturday to compete in the Temple Invite.