CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Sophomore sprinter Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) and fifth year long jumper Justin Miller (Collierville, Tenn.) recorded lifetime PRs in their respective events with performances that were of significance not just in the Villanova record book but on the BIG EAST and East Region descending order lists for the outdoor season. Turner registered a time of 10.54 in the 100 meters and Miller measured a long jump of 7.57 meters to highlight four men's athletes in action for the Wildcats on the first day of the Virginia Challenge on Friday afternoon.
 
SECOND UPDATE TO THE VILLANOVA 100 METER LIST IN THE LAST 19 YEARS
 
Turner is the second Villanova athlete since 2006 – along with junior teammate Amiri Prescod last season – to break onto the Wildcats all-time top 10 list in the 100 meters. His time of 10.54 at Lannigan Field on Friday puts him eighth in the program record book. More importantly, Turner now ranks second in the BIG EAST this season as the conference performance list starts to take shape less than one month before the conference championships are held May 15-17 in Storrs, Conn. Turner finished fourth in his heat and 23^rd overall out of 75 competitors in Friday's race.
 
FURTHEST LONG JUMP IN NEARLY A DECADE
 
Miller surpassed his previous personal best in the long jump on three of his six attempts Friday, but it was his final jump in the last round that gave him his new top mark of 7.57 meters. It is the best mark in the long jump for any Villanova athlete since honorable mention All-American Elbert Maxwell had a mark of 7.67 meters to win a BIG EAST title on May 8, 2015. Miller had previously jumped 7.37 meters at the Raleigh Relays in his only previous outdoor outing this season.
 
After a foul on his first jump of the day, Miller recorded back-to-back jumps of 7.44 meters to secure a spot in the final from the second of two flights. His fourth and fifth attempts of the day produced shorter marks than in the trials, but on his last trip down the runway he soared to the mark of 7.57 meters. The distance moves Miller up to sixth place on the program's all-time performance list, is the No. 2 mark in the BIG EAST this season and should put him right around the top 20 in the East region pending the outcome of other meets this weekend.
 
The top 48 declared athletes in each individual event qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Fla. next month, with that competition serving as the early rounds of the NCAA Championships. Villanova's last long jumper to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary was Maxwell in 2015.
 
O'NEILL AND BARRETTA COMPETED IN THE 400 METER HURDLES
 
Junior sprinters Ronan O'Neill (Wilmette, Ill.) and Sal Barretta (Whitestone, N.Y.) each ran the 400 meter hurdles later Friday evening. O'Neill posted a time of 55.53 and Barretta finished with a mark of 56.41.
 
COMING UP ON SATURDAY
 
Villanova continues competition at the Virginia Challenge on Saturday morning with men's javelin getting underway at 10 a.m. to start the day. The final event of the meet for the Wildcats is the 4x400 meter relay at 4:50 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.