BOSTON, Mass.—Fifth year sprinter Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) and graduate thrower Alex Payne (Silverdale, Wash.) were the standout performers for Villanova on the first day of competition at the Eagle Elite Invitational on Friday afternoon. Martinez took over this year's BIG EAST lead in the 800 meters and Payne recorded the fourth-longest mark in the weight throw in school history with a personal best performance inside the TRACK at new balance. Fifth year sprinter Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.) tallied her best time of the season in the 60 meter hurdles on a strong day all-around for the Wildcats.
 
Martinez posted a time of 2:04.07 in the 800 meters and is atop the BIG EAST performance list by a margin of four-tenths of a second. Her time is the 10^th-fastest indoors in Villanova history and is the second entry for Martinez on the Wildcats all-time indoor top-10 list. She also owns the sixth-fastest indoor time of 2:03.68 which she registered on February 3, 2023, in Boston. Martinez is the defending indoor BIG EAST champion in the 800 meters.
 
Later on Friday afternoon it was Payne's turn for a breakthrough performance as Villanova posted some of its best marks of the season to date on a busy day of competition. Payne recorded a personal best of 18.15 meters in the weight throw to post the fourth-longest mark in the Wildcats record book and the third-best distance in the BIG EAST this season. She threw in the second of two flights and already had a season-best tally of 17.64 meters on her second attempt in the trial round.
 
Payne advanced to the final and threw the weight 18.15 meters on her fourth attempt of the day. It is the second time in her career that she has surpassed 18 meters in competition and bests her previous PR of 18.03 meters which was set at the Pac-12 Indoor Invitational in 2022. Payne has now recorded three of the seven best marks (18.15m, 16.95m, 16.85m) in school history in the weight throw in her first three competitions for Villanova as a graduate transfer from Washington State.
 
In the final of the 60 meter hurdles, Livingston's time of 8.27 was a season best and tied the second-fastest time of her collegiate career. She began the day by finishing second in the preliminary heats of the hurdles with a time of 8.32, then placed third in the final with a time that keeps her second in the BIG EAST this season in her best indoor event. Livingston was the BIG EAST runner-up in the hurdles last season and ranks fourth in school history in the event.
 
The last event of the day for the Wildcats at the Eagle Elite meet was the mile in which junior distance runner Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) led the way with a time of 4:44.58. Junior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) tallied her third personal best of the season in the mile with a mark of 4:46.22, junior Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) added another PR of 4:49.03 and first year collegiate Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) posted a time of 4:58.73 in her first mile race this year.
 
Villanova kicked off a busy weekend on Friday with women's competition at the Eagle Elite Invitational as well as the Fastrack National Invite in New York and the Husky Classic in Seattle. The current weekend represents one of the last chances to tally season-best marks and NCAA Championships qualifying times prior to the conference championship meets which will be held around the country later in the month.
 
Competition remains for the Wildcats on Saturday in Boston with events taking place between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.