PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—In the fastest Championship of America women's distance medley relay in meet history, Villanova sophomore Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.) was one of only two runners in the field to post an 800 meter split below 2:04 at Franklin Field on Friday afternoon. She officially had a split of 2:03.66 for her leg of the DMR, with the Wildcats finishing the race in 11:03.72. The first Championship of America race of the weekend was one of several strong performances for Villanova on Friday's event schedule.
 
The distance medley relay was such a fast race that Villanova's time of 11:03.72 is faster than the Wildcats ran in three previous years (1994, 1995, 2015) when they were Penn Relays champions. Fifth year sprinter Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) led off the race with a split of 3:24.30 over 1200 meters, followed by first year collegian Olivia Allen (Wildwood, Texas) who ran 55.05 on the 400 meter leg. She gave the baton to Trusty for her standout 2:03.66 800 meter split, while junior Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) anchored the race with a split of 4:40.76 for the final 1600 meters. It was six seconds faster than McGill had run on the final leg in any previous DMR race.
 
Trusty's leg of the race is the 13^th-fastest known 800 meter split in school history and she is the ninth athlete in the Villanova record book to have a split as fast or better as her mark of 2:03.66. Each of Martinez, Allen and Trusty took to the track for a second time later on Friday to run in the Eastern heats of the 4x400 meter relay. They teamed with sophomore Myonica Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill.) in the later race to post the fastest qualifying time for their section final on Saturday evening.
 
Earlier in the day one of the strong individual events for the Wildcats was the heats of the 100 meter hurdles in which the duo of Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.) and Ajanae Thompson (Rahway, N.J.) ran well while competing in adjacent lanes in the same heat. Livingston posted a time of 13.72 to finish in the top 10 overall out of more than 30 competitors, while Thompson crossed the finish line in 13.91 in her first collegiate Penn Relays race.
 
Junior thrower Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) recorded a sixth place finish in the college section of the discus with a throw of 46.15 meters. Haught, ranked fifth in school history in the discus and coming off a personal best mark in the event just two weeks earlier, qualified for Saturday's final out of the first flight. She surpassed 43 meters or better on each of her first four attempts of the day, including her top throw of 46.15 meters on her third attempt and a distance of 45.45 meters on her first throw of the final round.
 
Villanova got underway on Friday afternoon with simultaneous competition in college sections of women's long jump and women's shot put. Fifth year thrower Adria Retter (Quakertown, Pa.) tallied a mark of 13.49 meters in the shot put and finished 14^th overall in the section. Senior long jumper Caroline Carlson (Miami, Ohio) registered a jump of 5.11 meters.
 
Later on Friday afternoon, junior high jumper Taylor Woodeshick (Nescopeck, Pa.) recorded her best performance of the season with a successful clearance at 1.60 meters. She made it over the bar on two of her first three jumps of the day, including the opening height of 1.55 meters and the first bar raise at 1.60 meters which she cleared on her second try.
 
Villanova will head into Saturday with a pair of championship events first up on the schedule. Retter will compete in the collegiate championship section of the discus at 9:30 a.m., followed by senior Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) in the collegiate high jump championship at 11:30 a.m..