PRINCETON, N.J.—Redshirt freshman middle distance runners CJ Sullivan (Milton, Mass.) and Kai Mitchell-Reiss (Portland, Ore.) were among several Villanova athletes who posted personal best marks as two days of competition at the Larry Ellis Invitational began at Weaver Stadium on Friday evening. A dozen athletes in all were in action for the Wildcats on Friday and they collectively produced PRs in the 800 meters, 1500 meters, shot put and discus.
 
Sullivan was the runner-up out of 53 competitors in the elite section of the 1500 meters with a time of 3:43.54. He cut more than 3.5 seconds off his previous PR recorded earlier this season and moved into the top 10 on the BIG EAST performance list for the first time this season. Sullivan ranks ninth on the conference descending order list after Friday's result. Mitchell-Reiss lowered his PR in the 1500 meters for the second time in the last nine days. He posted a time of 3:46.71 and, nearly identically to Sullivan, trimmed exactly 3.5 seconds off the time he ran at the Penn Relays last week.
 
Sophomore middle distance runner Dan Watcke (Hinsdale, Ill.) recorded a season best time of 1:47.19 to win the elite section of the 800 meters. He moved up a spot to third in the BIG EAST this season. Freshman Ben Thomas (Sydney, Australia) registered a personal best mark of 1:50.18 in his first 800 meter race of the spring. Later in the evening, redshirt freshman Nick Sullivan (Middletown, N.J.) ran his second 10K race of the year and posted a first place finish with a time of 30:36.44.
 
It was a good night for the Villanova throwers, led by sophomore Jonathan Evans (Springfield, Va.) who recorded a personal best mark in the discus for the second time in a week. He had surpassed 40 meters for the first time last Friday at the Carol and John Covert Classic hosted by Lehigh, then improved on the mark this week with a distance of 42.27 meters.
 
Friday marked the season debut for fifth year collegian Temi Ajirotutu (Queens, N.Y.), a member of the Wildcats football team who walked on to the track & field squad last spring and competed at the BIG EAST Championships. He tallied personal best marks in both the shot put and the discus at Princeton, measuring throws of 13.14 meters in the former and 37.09 meters in the latter. Junior thrower Liam Anderson (Lebanon, N.J.) threw 14.12 meters in the shot put and freshman Chris Coulter (Philadelphia, Pa.) had a mark of 13.89 meters.
 
Freshman Joe D'Adamo (Nanuet, N.Y.) and redshirt freshman Aiden Shay (Selinsgrove, Pa.) tallied marks of 46.45 meters and 44.09 meters in the hammer and javelin, respectively.
 
Competition at the Larry Ellis Invitational continues on Saturday morning.