PRINCETON, N.J.—Senior high jumper Taylor Woodeshick (Nescopeck, Pa.) cleared the bar on her first attempt at 1.63 meters to set a new personal best during competition at the Sam Howell Invitational on Friday afternoon. Woodeshick had one of several strong performances by the Wildcats at the local meet which was moved up a day due to the threat of inclement weather on Saturday. Woodeshick, sophomore triple jumper Gina Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and junior distance runner Kinsey Pogue (Danville, Calif.) all tallied personal best marks during the day.
 
Woodeshick had owned a lifetime best height of 1.61 meters in the high jump since the indoor portion of her collegiate rookie season in 2022. She had consistently matched that performance in competition ever since but broke through on Friday with successful attempts on four of her first five jumps of the day. She came in with the bar at 1.50 meters and cleared both that height and the next installment at 1.55 meters on her first try. The next bar raise was to 1.60 meters and Woodeshick cleared it on her second attempt, then made it over at 1.63 meters on her first approach.
 
Friday's performance moved Woodeshick into a tie for third place on the BIG EAST performance list three weeks into the outdoor season. Woodeshick is a five-time scorer at the conference championships during her career and is coming off her best finish in the high jump (sixth place) at this year's indoor competition in Chicago.
 
Smith recorded a mark of 11.42 meters in the triple jump to set a personal best of her own during the Princeton meet. She was just one centimeter away from moving onto Villanova's all-time outdoor top 10 list but nevertheless improved on her former PR of 11.34 meters which had been set at this same facility (Weaver Stadium at Princeton) last outdoor season. She also moved up on the BIG EAST performance list for the young outdoor season and comes in at sixth place. She finished eighth in the triple jump at the indoor conference meet.
 
Collegiate rookie Jenny Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led a trio of Wildcats newcomers in the long jump with a mark of 5.00 meters. Marin Torrens (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded a mark of 4.92 meters and Emily Staerk (Phoenixville, Pa.) measured 4.87 meters.
 
It was a good day for two of the Villanova throwers as sixth year Adria Retter (Quakertown, Pa.) finished first in the discus and senior Alex Payne (Silverdale, Wash.) was second in the hammer. Retter threw 49.40 meters in her third competition in the last 15 days and Payne tallied a throw of 51.30 meters while increasing her distance from the Raleigh Relays last week.
 
The only track event on the Wildcats docket Friday was the 1500 meters in which senior Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) paced three Villanova runners with a time of 4:23.09. Pogue followed with a personal best time of 4:44.24 – her second PR in as many races this season – and first year Lindsay Clive-Smith (San Diego, Calif.) posted a time of 4:50.43 in her official collegiate debut after running one unattached race in cross country in the Fall.