CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Fifth year thrower Jordan Williams (Fresno, Calif.) and junior Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) recorded personal best marks in the hammer and the discus, respectively, to highlight the Villanova results from the first day of the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at Cobb Stadium on Friday afternoon. Williams moved up one spot on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the discus and is now eighth in school history in the event. Friday's event schedule featured competition in the long jump, discus and hammer.
 
Graduate student Alex Payne (Silverdale, Wash.) led a trio of Villanova competitors in the hammer with a mark of 50.85 meters. She threw in the second of two flights and ranked ninth overall to qualify for the final round of throws, where she held her position and wound up ninth out of 20 overall competitors. Williams threw for 48.56 meters to easily best her season-opening throw and previous PR of 44.95 meters from the Knights Invite in Orlando two weeks ago.
 
There are three current Wildcats – fifth year thrower Adria Retter (Quakertown, Pa.) along with Payne and Williams – on the program's top-10 list in the hammer. Williams passed Jul Thomson for eighth place on that list and closed in on becoming the next Villanova athlete to surpass 50 meters in competition.
 
Retter was also in action on Friday and recorded a mark of 48.99 meters in the discus. She finished seventh in that competition to begin the weekend and is also slated to throw the shot put on Saturday afternoon. Haught threw for 38.33 meters in the hammer and 43.22 meters in the discus in Friday's events. Her distance in the discus surpassed her previous PR of 42.63 meters which she recorded two years ago in her 2022 season opener.
 
Senior jumper Caroline Carlson (Miami, Fla.) was competing close to home on Friday and produced a mark of 5.23 meters in the long jump.
 
Villanova will be back at Cobb Stadium on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. for competition in women's javelin. Events both in the field and on the track continue throughout the day and early evening, ending with the 4x400 meter relay at 7:15 p.m. Additional members of the Wildcats roster will be in action locally at the Penn Invitational.