RALEIGH, N.C.—Sophomore sprinter
Ethan Walls (Ridgefield, Conn.) tallied the fastest 400 meter time by a Villanova athlete in more than five years to highlight a good day for the team's sprinters as the Raleigh Relays continued at Paul H. Derr Track on Friday afternoon. Walls recorded a personal best mark of 48.08 to lead three Wildcats who competed in the 400 meters. Competition in the 100 meters and triple jump rounded out the team's docket for the day.
Walls has recorded a personal best time in the 400 meters in four of his last five races dating back to January 25 of the indoor season. In that span of time he has lowered his top mark from 49.24 at the end of his freshman outdoor season last Spring to Friday's mark of 48.08 which is the fastest that any Villanova runner has recorded since March 2020. Walls improved his PR three times indoors this year, culminating with a mark of 48.82 in the preliminary heats at the BIG EAST Championships on February 28. Friday's race came exactly a month since then and was Walls' outdoor season opener.
The junior duo of
Luke Rakowitz (Dallas, Texas) and
Jimmy Milgie (Wildwood, Mo.) also ran the 400 meters and posted times of 48.29 and 49.83, respectively. In the early going of the outdoor season which is still just two weeks old, Walls and Rakowitz rank fourth and fifth on the BIG EAST descending order list. Villanova has four of the top 12 runners on that list to date and is the only school with more than three athletes among the top dozen.
Junior sprinter
Amiri Prescod (Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) and sophomore
Parker Turner (Los Angeles, Calif.) opened their outdoor seasons in the 100 meters on Friday afternoon. Prescod recorded a time of 10.73 and Turner crossed the finish line in 11.03 as both runners placed fourth in their respective heats. Prescod is the defending BIG EAST champion and tallied his lifetime best mark of 10.48 in the final at the conference championships last year. He and Turner will both be back on the track Saturday afternoon for the 200 meters.
The only field event on Friday's schedule was the triple jump in which sixth year collegian
Kelechi Eziri (Charlotte, N.C.) competed in his home state for the first time in his collegiate career. Eziri was in action for the first time since last April and posted a mark of 13.33 meters in Friday's competition. He is a graduate transfer from Amherst who made his Wildcats debut last year and was a fifth place BIG EAST finisher in the triple jump during the 2024 indoor season.
Villanova wraps up the Raleigh Relays on Saturday with the 200 meters, 400 meter hurdles and long jump on the schedule.
