The men’s and women’s track teams participated in two events this past weekend, the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., and the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. These events served as good preparation for the continuing outdoor season and the upcoming Big East Championships.

At the Florida Relays, the Wildcat women dominated in the 1,500-meter run. Liz Haglund placed second with a time of 4:28.49 and was closely followed in third place by teammate Callie Hogan with a time of 4:28.98.

Other highlights for the women’s team included the 4×800-meter relay. Villanova came in second with a time of 9:01.87. The relay was run by Frances Koons, Sarah Morrison, Ali Smith and Akilah Vargas. Koons also had a strong showing in the 800-meter run, coming in seventh place at 2:09.66.

The men’s team was able to have high finishers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 400-meter hurdles. Daniel Lewis came in seventh in the steeplechase with a time of 9:26.19. Patrick Gazzini finished in sixth place in the hurdles with 52.06, only three seconds behind the leader.

Back in the Northeast, Austin Casey showed the strength of the Villanova men’s track team at the Penn Invitational. He finished in first place in the 100-meter dash and in third place in the 200-meter dash.

Also showing Wildcat strength were seventh-place finisher Daniel Tully in the 800-meter run and sixth-place finisher Rich Corcoran in the 1,500-meter run.

On the women’s side, Mary Kate Phelan and LaTrina Bailey finished in 10th and 11th place, respectively, in the 10-meter dash. To cap off a successful weekend, Kaitlin O’Sullivan came in fifth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. — J.H.