CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Senior distance runner Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) recorded a lifetime best in the 1500 meters and an outdoor PR in the 5000 meters in a span of less than two hours on Friday night in a sensational performance at the Virginia Challenge. She was just one of a plethora of Wildcats who recorded marks on Friday that were of significance on both the BIG EAST and East Region performance lists for the outdoor season.
 
TOP 10 TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN THE 5K
 
Sigfstead raced in the unseeded section of the 5000 meters only because this was her first race of the season in the 5K and just her second official start of the outdoor campaign. She won her section by a landslide with a time of 15:55.00, setting a new outdoor personal best while recording the eighth-fastest outdoor time in the Villanova record book. Sigfstead, whose lifetime best is 15:44.11 indoors in February 2024, surges into third place in the BIG EAST and 16^th in the East for the current outdoor season.
 
Section 1 of the 5000 meters went off at 9:25 p.m. at Lannigan Field, just 100 minutes after the start of Sigfstead's heat in the invite section of the 1500 meters. She posted a time of 4:22.94 in the earlier race, lowering her PR for the first time since April 2023 and impressively become the eighth member of the Wildcats roster to run 4:26 or faster in the 1500 meters this season. Villanova accounts for eight of the top 16 athletes in the BIG EAST this season pending the outcome of other competitions this weekend.
 
MORE ON VILLANOVA AND THE 1500 METERS
 
The fastest time for any Wildcats runner in the 1500 meters on Friday night came from senior Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) who recorded her second PR of the season with a mark of 4:22.74. She cut more than three seconds off her previous top time of 4:25.99 from the Raleigh Relays just three weeks ago. Robinson and Sigfstead both raced in the invite section of the 1500 meters.
 
Earlier in the evening, sophomore Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) and sixth year Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) went 1-2 in the unseeded section of the event. O'Connor recorded a winning time of 4:24.40 to pace a field of 58 runners, while Smith was second in 4:25.44 and senior Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) had a PR of 4:25.82 to finish fifth.
 
Villanova's depth in the 1500 meters is impressive, with each of the five runners who competed on Friday joining teammates Bella Walsh, Rosie Shay and Emma McGill in running times below 4:26 through the first month of the outdoor season.
 
ALLEN BREAKS ONE MINUTE IN 400 METER HURDLES
 
Sophomore sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) is the first BIG EAST athlete this season to break one minute in the 400 meter hurdles. She took over the conference lead with her race on Friday night as she posted a time of 59.88 to finish third in the invite section of the hurdles. Allen tallied the second-fastest time of her career – her PR of 59.75 won her a BIG EAST title as a collegiate rookie last season – and is on the cusp of the top 50 in the East this season. The top 48 declared athletes in each individual event qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary next month, with that meet serving as the early rounds of the NCAA Championships.
 
HIGH JUMPERS CONTINUE TO STANDOUT
 
Sophomore high jumper Malaika Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) and senior Taylor Woodeshick (Nescopeck, Pa.) each had standout performances in Virginia. Cunningham opened her outdoor season and simultaneously took over the BIG EAST lead in the high jump with a height of 1.75 meters. She tied for a fourth place finish in the invite section of the event and will rank around the top 20 of the East descending order list as results from other competitions this weekend get added to the board.
 
Cunningham made it over the bar on two of her first three jumps of the day. She came into the competition with the bar at 1.70 meters and easily cleared that height on her first try, as well as 1.75 meters on her second attempt. She was eliminated on three tries at what would have been a lifetime PR of 1.78 meters, and just one of the 16 competitors in her flight had a successful jump at that height.
 
Friday was the second consecutive outing in which Woodeshick improved her lifetime best in the high jump. She cleared 1.64 meters on her third and final attempt, going one centimeter higher than her breakthrough outing of 1.63 meters at Princeton two weeks ago. Woodeshick is tied for third in the BIG EAST this season. Her previous PR of 1.61 meters prior to this season had stood since her first collegiate season in 2021 and she had consistently approached or matched that mark in competition since then.
 
STARTING OFF STRONG
 
Villanova got the weekend off to a good start on Friday morning when senior thrower Alex Payne (Silverdale, Wash.) increased her season best in the hammer to 52.72 meters. Payne improved her standing in second place on this year's BIG EAST performance list.
 
COMING UP ON SATURDAY
 
Another full day of action awaits the Wildcats on Saturday, beginning with women's javelin to kick the day off at 12 p.m. and continuing through the final event of the day which is the 4x400 meter relay at 4:40 p.m.