STORRS, Conn.—Junior distance runner Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) made the awards podium in the 5000 meters, first year collegian Cecilia Montagnese (Leetsdale, Pa.) cracked the school top 10 list in the 3000 meter steeplechase and Villanova kept rolling on Friday during the second day of competition at the 2026 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships Presented by JEEP. Three athletes advanced from the preliminary heats of their respective events to reach the final on Saturday, and the Wildcats tallied personal or season best marks in three different events at George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.
 
The evening session on Friday consisted of finals in the steeplechase and the 5000 meters. O'Connor finished third in the 5K to earn her sixth career All-BIG EAST honor and first in that event. She posted a time of 16:58.50 for the bronze medal and was one of two Villanova scorers in the event. Fifth year runner Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) finished fifth with a time of 17:01.08 one night after she was the runner-up in the 10K on Thursday night. This is the fourth straight year and ninth time in the last 11 years that the Wildcats have had at least one podium finisher in the 5K either indoors, outdoors or both.
 
Montagnese made her career debut in the steeplechase just two weeks ago and is now part of Villanova's all-time performance list in the event. She cut nearly 18 seconds off her time from earlier this month and tallied a seventh place BIG EAST finish with a time of 10:37.47. She and classmate Zoe Mosher (Pleasantville, N.S.) each scored in the steeplechase with seventh and eighth place finishes, respectively. Mosher finished in 10:44.50 in what was also her second career steeplechase competition. She debuted at No. 6 on the Wildcats all-time program list two weeks ago.
 
In field events earlier on Friday, collegiate rookie Mariana Lopez del Valle (Tampa, Fla.) registered a personal best mark in the long jump and first year thrower Jess Bentum (West Deptford, N.J.) competed in the shot put in her second event in as many days. Lopez del Valle jumped 5.57 meters to increase her season and lifetime best by a centimeter. The new top mark came on her second of three attempts in Friday's competition. She already ranked 10^th on Villanova's all-time outdoor list in the long jump. Bentum came in third in the hammer on Thursday and was back in action on Friday with a mark of 11.34 meters in the shot put.
 
Junior sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) is the fastest qualifier for the final of the 400 meter hurdles after she crossed the finish line in 59.62 in the second of two heats. Allen has been so strong throughout this year, both indoors and outdoors, that it is almost easy to forget how far she has come in a relatively short period of time. With no other runners within two seconds of her in the home stretch of Friday's prelims, she was able to coast towards the finish line with an eye on the final. A year ago at this time, a time of 59.62 would have been less than two-tenths of a second off a personal best. That was until Allen ran 58.01 in last year's final in what was a major break through performance, starting a wave of momentum that has continued through her junior season.
 
In the 800 meters, the duo of sophomore Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) and first year Gabby Pistner (St. Marys, Pa.) are each headed to the final. Walsh was an automatic qualifier out of the first heat with a time of 2:12.27 and Pistner advanced on time from the second heat with a season best mark of 2:10.56.
 
Not included in Friday's results is the 1500 meters, a straight-to-final event this year with 16 athletes in the field. Sophomore Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) and sixth year Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) will each be running in that event, which is the first individual track race of the day at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Villanova is currently in fourth place in the team standings with 31 points. Eight of the 22 events in the meet program have been scored to this point in the meet.