NEW YORK—Senior triple jumper
Malik Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) recorded Villanova's longest indoor jump since 1998 to highlight a great day of competition for the Wildcats as the Columbia Challenge got underway at The Armory on Friday afternoon. Villanova had athletes competing in the 60 meters, the long jump and the triple jump on the first of two days of competition in New York.
Cunningham finished first out of 15 competitors in the triple jump with a mark of 15.79 meters. It is a new lifetime best for Cunningham and the longest indoor mark for a Wildcats triple jump since Jermaine Deans jumped 16.11 meters on March 8, 1998 at the IC4A Championship in Ithaca, N.Y. Cunningham already ranked third on Villanova's all-time performance list in the triple jump and he bettered his previous top indoor mark of 15.43 meters set during the 2020 season.
Friday's meet was the season debut for Cunningham and he opened the competition with a jump of 15.01 meters on his first attempt. He was in third place after two jumps and then surged into the lead with his best mark of the day to close out the trials. Cunningham took three more jumps in the final and surpassed 15.60 meters on all three attempts, including 15.72 meters on his final effort of the day. Graduate student
Sosa Omuemu (Foxborough, Mass.) also competed in the triple jump on Friday and came in 11
th overall with a mark of 13.85 meters.
In the other field event held on Friday afternoon, graduate student
Michael Troup (Doylestown, Pa.) registered a mark of 6.93 meters in the long jump. He competed in the last of three flights in the long jump and recorded the distance of 6.93 meters on each of his first two attempts. Troup wound up 10
th overall out of 32 competitors in the three flights.
Earlier in the afternoon, Troup recorded a personal best time of 7.12 in the preliminary heats of the 60 meters. He and senior
Dylan Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) each placed sixth in their respective heats. Henry recorded a time of 7.19.
Saturday's event schedule for the Wildcats includes the 200 meters and the 400 meters. Villanova will also compete in the 4x400 meter relay to close out the Columbia meet.
