SEATTLE, Wash.—Graduate middle distance runner McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) raced in the fastest heat of the 800 meters and turned in the nation's third-fastest time this season while competing at the Husky Classic in Seattle on Saturday afternoon. Keegan competed in the invitational section of the 800 meters as Villanova wrapped up two days of competition in the middle distance and distance events at Dempsey Indoor.
 
It was the final event of a busy weekend for the Wildcats and one worth waiting for as Keegan ran her first 800 meter race of the season. She won her section with a time of 2:03.48 to impact both this year's NCAA Division I Indoor Qualifying List and Villanova's all-time indoor performance list in the 800 meters. Keegan's time ranks third on this year's national descending order list and is the fastest in the BIG EAST by a margin of nearly two seconds.
 
The top 16 declared athletes in each event will be selected for the NCAA Championships next month and Keegan put herself in excellent position to be an individual qualifier for the national meet for the second straight year. She was a first team All-American in the 800 meters last season and ran nearly a full second faster on Saturday than she did in the final at the NCAA Championships a year ago.
 
Only two Villanova runners – Keegan and former teammate Siofra Cleirigh Buttner – have ever broken 2:04 in the 800 meters during indoor competition. Keegan's time of 2:03.48 in her race on Saturday is third on that list behind Cleirigh Buttner's indoor school record of 2:02.46 from the 2018 NCAA Championships and a mark of 2:02.97 which was recorded one year earlier. The latest in a long line of top middle distance runners for the Wildcats, Keegan has run as fast as 2:01.25 outdoors in the 800 meters.
 
Villanova wrapped up two exciting days at the Husky Classic with competition in the 800 meters and the Mile on Saturday afternoon. Less than an hour before Keegan's race, junior Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) ran her first 800 meter race of the season and posted a time of 2:07.66.
 
Freshmen Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) and Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) raced in the Mile earlier in the afternoon. McGill recorded a time of 4:57.80 one day after running a 3K race, while Robinson crossed the finish line in 5:02.63 and lowered her PR from high school by nearly 25 seconds.