PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Sophomore sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) registered a PR in the 400 meter hurdles Thursday evening as the 129^th running of the Penn Relays got underway at historic Franklin Field. Her performance was a sign of things to come for Villanova, with distance night events later on Thursday producing an individual championship for senior Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) in the 10000 meters along with three PRs from athletes in the 1500 meters and 5000 meters.
 
Allen lowered her lifetime best in the hurdles to 59.45 while increasing her BIG EAST lead this season. The reigning conference champion continues to edge closer to the top 50 in the East region. The top 48 declared times in each individual event will qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary next month, a goal which is a realistic one for Allen as she continues to improve with each race. She broke one minute for the first time in 2025 when she ran 59.88 at the Virginia Challenge last week.
 
The burgeoning standout performer in the Wildcats sprint group posted a time of 1:03.08 in the 400 meter hurdles in her collegiate Penn Relays debut last year. She went on to win the BIG EAST title in 59.75 just over two weeks later.
 
Senior middle distance runners Emily Robinson (Rogers, Ark.) and Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) led a quartet of Villanova runners in the 1500 meters. They each lowered their PRs from earlier this season by several seconds and both returned to the track later in the evening to pace the 10K and the 5K, respectively. Robinson was clocked in 4:19.88 in the 1500 meters, breaking 4:20 for the first time in her career and eclipsing her previous PR (4:22.73) which was only six days old after being recorded at the Virginia Challenge last week.
 
O'Connor took even more time off her previous lifetime best, crossing the line in 4:20.05 on Thursday night after previously running 4:20.01 at the Raleigh Relays last month. First year collegian Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) posted a time of 4:22.86 and sixth year runner Maggie Smith (Halifax, N.S.) finished in 4:24.53. Smith also had pacing responsibilities in the 5000 meters later in the night.
 
The first of three sections in the 5000 meters featured O'Connor pacing for just over a mile. Senior distance runner Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) competed in that section and lowered her PR by more than 10 seconds to finish in 16:30.20. She also ran the 5K nearly 15 full seconds faster than she did last season. Including the indoor season earlier this year, Carroll has recorded PRs in 2025 in the 1500 meters, mile, 3000 meters and 5K.
 
Four events are on the Villanova docket for Friday at the Penn Relays, highlighted by the Championship of America distance medley relay which goes off at 2 p.m. and can be seen live on FloTrack. Also scheduled for Friday afternoon are the heats of the 100 meter hurdles (3:10 p.m.), the college section of the discus (3:30 p.m.) and the college section of the high jump (4 p.m.).