CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Graduate middle distance runner
McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) moved up two spots into fourth place in school history in the 400 meters with a personal best time of 54.18 in the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field on Friday afternoon. She was one of five Villanova runners who recorded personal bests in either the 100 meters or the 400 meters on the second day of competition at the meet, which will wrap up on Saturday afternoon.
Keegan came in third out of more than 60 runners in the 400 meters with the best time of her career. That time ranks third in the BIG EAST this season and would be on the cusp of qualifying Keegan for the NCAA East Preliminary next meet in the 400 meters, although it is the 800 meters that is her signature event and which she has won four career All-America honors in. Keegan and the junior duo of
Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) and
Alexis Martin (Gaithersburg, Md.) all posted lifetime bests in the 400 meters in Friday's race.
In Keegan's case, she moved from sixth to fourth on the Wildcats all-time performance list. Martinez lowered her personal best by more than a full second to 55.69, while Martin trimmed her own top time by nearly a second to cross the finish line in 57.88.
Friday began on a high note in the sprints when junior
Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.), senior
Jada Thomas (Kingston, Jamaica) and senior
Trinity Hart (Scotch Plains, N.J.) all had strong times in the 100 meters. Livingston tallied a personal best time of 12.00 and moved up to eighth in Villanova history, while Thomas ran 12.11 to solidify her standing in 10
th place on the program's all-time list in the 100 meters. Hart registered a personal best time of 12.24 in the race and later competed in the long jump where she recorded a mark of 5.33 meters.
Events wrapped up for the day with the distance races later Friday night. Freshmen
Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) and
Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) were each in action and posted times of 4:30.46 in the 1500 meters and 17:39.67 in the 5000 meters, respectively.
Graduate thrower
Jul Thomson (Otterville, Ont.) had the best performance of the day for the Wildcats in the field events. She registered a personal best throw in the discus and her mark of 48.29 meters came with plenty of superlatives. It is the ninth-longest discus throw in the Villanova record book, moves Thomson into third place on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the event and also gives her the BIG EAST lead for the current season. Freshman
Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) also competed in the discus on Friday and threw for a distance of 41.42 meters.
The day began with the javelin in which graduate
Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) placed seventh with a mark of 45.38 meters, while senior
Liv Morgan (Bronx, N.Y.) posted a mark of 38.52 meters. Sophomore multi-event athlete
Caroline Carlson (Miami, Fla.) is through four events in the heptathlon and currently has a score of 2,577 points. She set a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 10.01 meters during Friday's action, with her other marks including a time of 15.68 in the 100 meter hurdles, a height of 1.46 meters in the high jump and a time of 26.95 in the 200 meters.
Track events for Villanova on Saturday include the 100 meter hurdles, the 200 meters, the 800 meters and the 4x400 meter relay. Field events on the schedule are the high jump and the shot put, while Carlson will compete in the final three events of the heptathlon. Additional members of the team will be in action locally at the Widener Invitational.
