PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Villanova opened the outdoor track & field season with 12 athletes in competition at the Penn Challenge on Saturday afternoon. The highlights of the day at Franklin Field were first place finishes in the 800 meters and the 3000 meters, while the Wildcats tallied five top-four finishes overall on the day.
Sophomore
Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) and freshman
Amelia Arrieta (Kansas City, Mo.) were the Villanova event winners. Robinson posted a time of 2:13.57 to pace 14 runners in the 800 meters and junior
Kate Flynn (Gray, Tenn.) was 12
th in the event in 2:28.48. Arrieta on the 3000 meters in 10:13.15 and was followed by fellow first year runner
Kinsey Pogue (Danville, Calif.) who crossed the finish line in 10:23.45.
The other distance event on Saturday's docket was the 1500 meters in which redshirt freshman
Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) and sophomore
Alex Stasichin (Massapequa, N.Y.) were both in action. Sigfstead returned to competition for the first time since last May and was the runner-up out of 21 entries in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:31.98. Stasichin finished fourth with a personal best mark of 4:33.40.
In the sprints, freshman
Myonica Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and junior
Alexis Martin (Gaithersburg, Md.) posted times of 58.50 and 59.78 in the 400 meters. Jackson tallied a fifth place finish in her first collegiate outdoor meet and Martin was 11
th overall in a field of 26 runners. Fifth year
Jada Thomas (Kingston, Jamaica) registered a time of 13.47 in the 100 meters.
The top result for the Wildcats in the field events came in the javelin where junior
Teresa Rotolo (Warren, N.J.) came in seventh with a distance of 40.01 meters. Since the current javelin implement was introduced for the 1999 season, Rotolo becomes the 10
th Villanova athlete to surpass 40 meters in competition. She extended her previous PR in the javelin by 1.38 meters.
Sophomore thrower
Faith Haught (Payson, Ariz.) recorded a personal best mark of 34.37 meters in the hammer and also recorded a mark of 37.37 meters in the discus. Sophomore high jumper
Taylor Woodeshick (Nescopeck, Pa.) finished ninth in her event with a height of 1.60 meters.
A contingent of Wildcats is set to compete during the coming week at the Raleigh Relays.
