RALEIGH, N.C.—Sophomore sprinter Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) and fifth year long jumper Justin Miller (Collierville, Tenn.) took over the BIG EAST lead in their respective events to put a thrilling cap on a great weekend of competition for Villanova at the Raleigh Relays. Turner registered a personal best time of 21.38 in the 200 meters and Miller recorded a personal best mark of 7.37 meters in the long jump at Paul Derr Track on Saturday afternoon.
 
The first event of the day for the Wildcats was the long jump in which Miller extended his lifetime PR by one centimeter on his last of six attempts. He holds the BIG EAST lead on the young outdoor season by a margin of 17 centimeters and maintained his hold on ninth place on the all-time Villanova performance list in the long jump. Miller is in his second year with the Wildcats as a transfer from Memphis and is coming off an indoor season in which he earned All-BIG EAST honors in the long jump.
 
Miller started his day on Saturday by posting the top mark in the second of four flights of the long jump. That came on his second of three jumps in the trials when he measured a distance of 7.25 meters, good for first place out of all entries who competed in the first two flights. Miller remained in fifth place after the third and fourth flights had been contested and he wound up being one of two athletes from the second flight who moved on to the final to take three more jumps.
 
All three of Miller's attempts in the final were legal jumps and each one was further than the last. He jumped 7.02 meters on his fourth attempt of the day, then increased the mark to 7.20 meters on his fifth jump and finally to the best mark of the day and his career when he went for 7.37 meters on his final trip down the runway.
 
Turner lowered his personal best in the 200 meters for the first time since the Virginia Challenge last outdoor season (April 20, 2024). His time of 21.38 in Raleigh on Saturday is the fastest time for a Villanova runner in the 200 meters since the 2018 outdoor season and puts him 0.15 seconds ahead of the current second-fastest runner in the BIG EAST this season.
 
It was the second race in as many days for Turner, who had recorded a time of 11.03 in the 100 meters on Friday afternoon. The up-and-coming member of the team's sprint group was an All-BIG EAST performer in the 200 meters indoors and is ranked fifth on the Wildcats all-time indoor performance list in the 200 meters.
 
Junior sprinters Sal Barretta (Whitestone, N.Y.) and Ronan O'Neill (Wilmette, Ill.) each recorded personal best times in the 400 meter hurdles to round out Saturday's docket. Barretta won his heat with a time of 54.87 and O'Neill finished second in his section in 55.58. They each lowered their career PRs for the first time since the BIG EAST Championships last outdoor season. Barretta and O'Neill now rank fourth and fifth in the BIG EAST this season.