UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—The first of two days of competition at the Penn State National Open was a full one for Villanova on Friday evening as the Wildcats had six events on their team schedule. Senior sprinters Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.) and Jada Thomas (Kingston, Jamaica) each advanced through the preliminary and semifinal heats of the 60 meter hurdles with strong performances on the night. Sophomores Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) and Alex Stasichin (Massapequa, N.Y.) recorded personal best times in the mile and the 800 meters, respectively.
 
It was Livingston and Thomas who got onto the track first for Villanova and they each comfortably advanced out of the first round in the hurdles. Livingston was ranked third out of 25 competitors in the opening round with a time of 8.50 and was an automatic qualifier for the semifinals. Thomas advanced on time after crossing the line in 8.90. Both athletes had their best marks of the season in the semifinal round later in the evening. Livingston finished second overall out of 16 qualifiers for the semifinal heats with a time of 8.36, while Thomas was seventh overall in 8.72. The pair each opted not to run in the final which would have meant a third race in the span of just over three hours.
 
Robinson recorded a time of 4:54.76 in the mile and cut more than 3.5 seconds off the mark of 4:58.34 she established at the BIG EAST Championships last year. She came in 13^th overall out of 31 competitors in the race on Friday night.
 
The trio of senior Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio), sophomore Maya Dorer (New York, N.Y.) and Stasichin competed in the 800 meters. Martinez led the way for the three Wildcats with a time of 2:08.85 to come in sixth overall out of 32 athletes. She was followed by Dorer in 2:09.16 and Stasichin in 12^th overall place with a personal best time of 2:09.67. Stasichin lowered the time of 2:11.32 she had run at the outdoor BIG EAST Championships as a true freshman last Spring.
 
Junior multi-event athlete Caroline Carlson (Miami, Fla.) competed in both the 60 meters and the long jump on Friday. The two events occurred nearly simultaneously and she registered a time of 8.08 in the 60 meters to go along with a distance of 5.10 meters in the long jump. Sophomore thrower Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) was the first Villanova athlete in action on Friday when she threw for 14.34 meters in the weight throw.
 
Another busy day awaits the Wildcats on Saturday when the Penn State meet concludes. First up on the team's event schedule is the high jump at 11 a.m. while the final event of the day will be the 4x400 meter relay at 4:05 p.m.