CHICAGO, Ill.—Villanova high jumper Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) is no stranger to setting records. She is the Wildcats all-time program standard bearer in her signature event both indoors and outdoors, and last year became the first Villanova jumper to win the championship section of a women's event at the Penn Relays. So, in her final career BIG EAST meet, why wouldn't she set a new program record for the most career high jump gold medals?
 
Clayton did exactly that, jumping 1.82 meters to win her fourth career conference title. She was voted by the BIG EAST head coaches as the Outstanding Field Performer of the meet. Clayton is the Wildcats fourth athlete ever and third indoors to win this award. She combined with sophomore teammate Malaika Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) for a 1-2 finish on Saturday afternoon, while senior Taylor Woodeshick (Nescopeck, Pa.) came in sixth on a day when all three Villanova athletes tallied their best performances of the season.
 
One of the highlights from Saturday's events came from sophomore sprinter Ajanae Thompson (Mahwah, N.J.) who won her first career BIG EAST title in the 60 meter hurdles. Thompson took the mantle from her former Wildcats teammate Jane Livingston who won the event last year and had combined with Thompson on a 1-2 finish in the 100 meter hurdles outdoors. In the final on Saturday, Thompson posted a time of 8.54 to win by four hundredths of a second over runner-up A'Liyah Thomas from Connecticut.
 
Villanova scored points in 11 of 18 events over two days of competition at the 2025 BIG EAST Indoor Track and Field Championships Presented by JEEP. The team's performances added up to 85 points and a fifth place finish in the team standings. There were just 27 points separating the teams in second through fifth place, and the Wildcats were within eight points of a top-three finish.
 
Clayton and Cunningham matched their efforts from last year's outdoor championship with their 1-2 finish. Cunningham cleared the bar at 1.76 meters on her first try and was 4-for-4 on the day after making that jump. She and Clayton were the only two competitors left at that point and the bar was raised to 1.82 meters which would have represented a five centimeter PR for Cunningham. She missed on her three attempts, while Clayton made it over on her second attempt before going out on three jumps at 1.86 meters.
 
Villanova's other podium performances on Saturday came from first year Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) in the mile and from the Wildcats lineup in the 4x800 meter relay which Walsh was also a part of. She started the day by posting a lifetime PR of 4:40.99 to finish third in the mile and make the awards podium in her first career BIG EAST final. A lineup of senior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.), Walsh, first year Lucy Moran (Branford, Conn.) and sixth year Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) finished third in the 4x800 relay with a time of 8:49.93.
 
It has been an outstanding season for a group of Villanova newcomers in the middle distance and distance events. Walsh and fellow collegiate rookie Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) led that charge this weekend, with Shay leading off the silver medal distance medley relay on Friday night and coming back to lead a Wildcats quartet in the 3000 meters with a sixth place finish and personal best time of 9:23.79 on Saturday.
 
Senior Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) came in seventh in the 3K with a time of 9:24.77 and sophomore Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) registered a PR of 9:29.84 in the race. Both runners were also part of the DMR lineup on Friday night.
 
Villanova had four runners in the final of the mile for the first time since 2019. Walsh was followed by Robinson in fifth place with a personal best time of 4:43.85. Smith came in eighth in 4:46.42 and senior Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) was ninth with a time of 4:47.74.