PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Freshman thrower Theo Hedgemon (Atlanta, Ga.) moved into the top 10 in school history in the weight throw with his best outing of the season as the Penn Classic got underway at The Ott Center on Friday afternoon. Villanova competed in the infield events on the first of two days at the meet, which transitions over to track events on the oval on Saturday.
 
Hedgemon extended his best mark of the season in the weight throw to 16.43 meters and finished seventh out of 18 competitors. Graduate student Tristan Bolinsky (Gordon, Pa.) led three Wildcats with a fourth place finish and a mark of 17.54 meters. Bolinsky ranks fourth in the Villanova record book with a PR of 17.91 meters recorded earlier this season. He now has company on the all-time performance list with Hedgemon surging to seventh place on the list.
 
A good start for both Bolinsky and Hedgemon on Friday built momentum for each of them. Bolinsky's throw of 17.54 meters came on his first of six attempts during the competition, while Hedgemon surpassed 16 meters for the first time on his second throw. He moved into the top eight of the BIG EAST performance list for the first time this season and sits in seventh place on that list.
 
Freshman thrower Yianna Papanikolas (Toms River, N.J.) led a group of Wildcats in the shot put with a mark of 15.60 meters. Senior long jumper Sanjay Persaud (Bloomingburg, N.Y.) registered his best mark of the season with a distance of 6.09 meters.
 
In the only track event of the day, junior Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) was timed in a season best 7.09 in the heats of the 60 meters and freshman Christos Batalias (New York, N.Y.) posted as time of 7.20.