STORRS, Conn.—Junior sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) won her third straight gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles and junior high jumper Malika Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) defended her title as well to highlight five podium performances by Villanova on the final day of competition at the 2026 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP. The highlights of the day included the Wildcats scoring in eight different events at George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex and winding up fourth in the team standings with 91 points.
 
Gold medals and personal bests seem to be a thing for Allen in the 400 meter hurdles. She has won the BIG EAST title in her signature event in each of her first three collegiate seasons, and in each gold medal race she had a breakthrough performance which elevated her career to a new level of success. Allen broke one minute in the hurdles for the first time (59.75) when she captured her first BIG EAST gold medal in 2024, then gasped as she crossed the finish line last year in a now eclipsed PR of 58.01.
 
Allen won this year's race in 57.24, the fastest time by any Wildcats athlete other than school record holder Patty Bradley. The newest PR for Allen ties for the sixth-fastest time in school history and is tied for the third-fastest time during the collegiate season. Bradley and Allen account for the 14 fastest times in school history in the hurdles, while Allen moved up to 13^th place in the East region and 31^st nationally on this year's collegiate performance list.
 
Only one other athlete in school history has won the same event at least three straight years at the outdoor conference championships. Allen joins javelin thrower Taryn Ashby with that distinction; Ashby won four straight javelin titles from 2018-22 (the 2020 outdoor championships were canceled). This is also the first time that a Villanova athlete has won three career BIG EAST titles in the 400 meter hurdles specifically. Two other runners won the event twice during their careers: Allen's mother, Wildcats legend Debbie Grant in 1984 and 1985, as well as Cassy Bradley in 1986 and 1987.
 
Three straight gold medals are also the distinction that Cunningham achieved with her winning jump of 1.76 meters. She won her first career title in the high jump at least year's outdoor BIG EAST meet, then added an indoor title earlier this year before winning her third straight gold medal on Saturday afternoon. Cunningham already had the title secured after she started the day with three straight successful attempts at 1.66 meters, 1.71 meters and 1.76 meters. The last of those heights eliminated the eventual silver and bronze medalists from Connecticut, while Cunningham eventually missed three tries at 1.79 meters which would have represented a new personal best mark.
 
It did not take Villanova long to set a tone for a successful day. The first track final on Saturday afternoon was the 1500 meters in which sophomore Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) earned a silver medal. She crossed the finish line in 4:15.04 and was less than two-tenths of a second off the pace at the finish line. It was Shay's sixth career All-BIG EAST honor, second in an individual track event and first in the 1500 meters. She upped her career total to seven BIG EAST medals later in the day in the 4x800 meter relay. Sixth year collegian Nikki Vanasse (Martinsville, N.J.) came in fourth in the straight-to-final 1500 meters with a time of 4:17.61 and anchored the 4x800 relay.
 
There has seldom been a time when the Wildcats did not have a stacked lineup in the 4x800 relay. Villanova has won 73 medals all-time in this event, including 38 podium finishes indoors and 35 outdoors. This is the second straight year and third time in the last four seasons that the Wildcats won a medal in the relay outdoors. The team of first year Sophia McInnes (Bayport, N.Y.), Shay, sophomore Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) and Vanasse finished third in 8:35.21 to win the bronze medal.
 
First year thrower Hallie Kees (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) made her BIG EAST debut in style with a bronze medal in the javelin. She improved her season and lifetime best by nearly a full meter to finish third with a mark of 42.34 meters. Kees already ranked eighth in school history with the current javelin implement and she became the first Villanova athlete since 2022 to medal in women's javelin. Sixth year collegian Teresa Rotolo (Warren, N.J.) had a season best throw of 35.41 meters.
 
Other finishes of note from Saturday's events came in the 800 meters and the triple jump. Walsh and first year Gabby Pistner (St. Marys, Pa.) finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the final of the 800 meters. Walsh lowered her lifetime PR to 2:05.86 and Pistner posted a time of 2:12.51 in her first career BIG EAST final.
 
Junior triple jumper Gina Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded a personal best mark of 12.07 meters and finished sixth in her event. She matched her best career BIG EAST finish from the indoor season earlier this year and increased her top mark by five centimeters in surpassing 12 meters for the second time this outdoor season.
 
Villanova has scored at least 90 points at the outdoor conference championships in 12 consecutive seasons.