RALEIGH, N.C.—The second day of competition at the Raleigh Relays produced outstanding results in every discipline for Villanova, including performances that impacted the program's top 10 list in the 400 meters and discus as well as a quartet of middle distance runners who all tallied PRs in the 1500 meters at Paul H. Derr Track on Friday afternoon. Sixth year thrower
Adria Retter (Quakertown, Pa.) notched the fourth-longest throw in school history in the discus and sophomore sprinter
Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) moved into eighth place in school history in the 400 meters.
Retter threw 51.59 meters on her third throw and tallied a third place finish out of more than 60 competitors across four flights. She entered the day fresh off setting her personal best of 52.31 meters in the season opener at Penn last week. That mark ranks No. 2 in the Wildcats record book and Retter now claims five of the 11 longest throws in school history, including three of the top five marks. The defending BIG EAST discus champion from last year holds the early conference lead and ranks eighth in the East region on this year's performance list through the first two weeks of the outdoor season.
Midway through the afternoon Allen led five Villanova runners in the 400 meters with a time of 54.70. It is the fourth consecutive race dating back to February that she has lowered her lifetime PR, and with Friday's latest result she moves onto the top 10 individual performance list in the Wildcats record book for the first time. Allen ranks eighth on that list after winning her heat on Friday and ranking 11
th overall out of more than 100 entries. She is showing herself to be a versatile athlete in the sprints, as she won last year's BIG EAST title in the 400 meter hurdles and ranks sixth in school history in that event.
Junior sprinter
Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.) was the second-fastest Villanova runner in the 400 meters with a time of 55.86, followed by fifth year collegian
Lizzie Martell (Essex Junction, Vt.) who opened up her outdoor campaign with a time of 56.66. The graduate transfer from New Hampshire competed unattached in two cross country starts in he Fall and was running in her first official race for the Wildcats on Friday afternoon. She was a four-time conference champion at New Hampshire and a two-time qualifier in the 800 meters for the NCAA East Preliminary meet outdoors. Adding to the team's results on Friday were junior
Myonica Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and senior
Alex Stasichin (Massapequa, N.Y.) with times of 57.03 and 59.09, respectively.
One of the best events of the weekend for Villanova was the 1500 meters which went off late in the afternoon. Four of the team's five entries came out of their races with new personal bests, led by a pair of collegiate rookies in
Bella Walsh (Middletown, Del.) and
Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) who continued their string of notable performances. Walsh broke 4:20 for the first time in her career with a time of 4:19.99 and cut more than four seconds off her previous PR. Shay finished in 4:20.40 and is 2-for-2 in personal bests this outdoor season after posting a time of 2:08.83 in the 800 meters in last week's season opener.
The duo of sophomore
Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) and senior
Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) posted personal best times of 4:24.01 and 4:25.99, respectively. O'Connor lowered her PR by nearly two seconds while Robinson beat her previous top time which she had set exactly one year earlier at this same meet. Sixth year collegian
Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) added to the Wildcats successful results on the day with a time of 4:28.63.
Other results from Friday's events included senior thrower
Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) recording a mark of 38.00 meters in the discus and sophomore sprinter
Ajanae Thompson (Rahway, N.J.) recording a time of 14.57 in the 100 meter hurdles.