CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Freshman sprinter
Amiri Prescod (Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) ran the fastest 100 meters by a Villanova athlete in four years and lowered his PR to a time of 10.64 during competition at the Virginia Challenge on Friday evening. Five events were on the Villanova schedule at Lannigan Field on the second day of the three-day meet.
Prescod cut more than a tenth of a second off his previous career best time which he had recorded just 13 days earlier in Miami. His wind-aided time on Friday in Virginia put him fifth in his heat and was the fastest time for a Wildcats runner since Troy Gallen posted a mark of 10.62 on April 13, 2019 in a race that was also wind-aided. So far during the outdoor season Prescod has recorded PRs in both the 100 meters and the 200 meters (21.84).
Junior javelin thrower
Nick Coffey (Cranston, R.I.) continued his strong 2023 campaign with a runner-up finish on Friday night. He threw for 66.34 meters to finish second out of 15 competitors. Coffey's throw is the sixth-longest in the Villanova record book since the current javelin implement was introduced in 1999. He owns three of the top 10 throws on the Wildcats performance list, with Friday's distance ranking as the second-longest of Coffey's career. He threw for a PR of 67.90 meters in Miami earlier this month.
Villanova had a trio of competitors in the 400 meters, led by freshman
Jimmy Milgie (Wildwood, Mo.) who clocked in at 49.20. He finished just ahead of junior
Jakob Kunzer (George Town, Grand Cayman) who posted a time of 49.29, while freshman
Sal Barretta (Whitestone, N.Y.) recorded a time of 51.22. The contingent of Wildcats sprinters who are competing in Virginia this weekend are scheduled to conclude the meet with the 4x400 meter relay on Saturday afternoon.
Sixth year distance runner
Will Merritt (Smithsburg, Md.) and sophomore thrower
Tristan Bolinsky (Gordon, Pa.) were also in action for Villanova on Friday evening. Merritt came in seventh out of 33 competitors in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:31.52 in his second-fastest race of the outdoor season. Bolinsky finished 13
th in the discus with a throw of 45.31 meters.
Competition in Virginia wraps up on Saturday when the Wildcats are scheduled to have athletes competing in the 200 meters, the 400 meter hurdles, the 800 meters, the 4x400 meter relay and the shot put.
