On Friday April 9, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Temple Invitational, and on Saturday April 10, some members of the men’s team competed at the Joe Walker Invitational held at the University of Mississippi. 

At the Temple Invite, senior mid-distance runner McKenna Keegan recorded a lifetime best in the 400-meter event, running a time of 54.50, as well as earning a slot into the fifth Villanova all-time leaderboard. Additionally for the Wildcats, Amari Onque-Shabazz, Brynne Sumner and Madison Martinez recorded personal bests in the 400, with times of 55.49, 56.82 and 56.89 respectively. These four runners then competed in the 4×400 and won with a time of 3:42.76. 

In the 1500-meter event, sophomores Anna Helwigh and Lydia Olivere both ran personal bests, with Helwigh recording a second place finish with a time of 4:19.59 and Olivere finishing in third place with a time of 4:20.99. Freshmen Elizabeth Vaughn and Marcella Krautzel each competed in this event for the first time in their collegiate careers with times of 4:48.91 and 5:09.52, respectively. Nikki Merrill (2:15.51) and Kate Flynn (2:32.83) each competed in the 800-meter event, and Trudy-Ann Williamson competed in the 100 and 200-meter events, recording times of 12.19 and 25.69.

On the men’s side of the Temple Invite, middle-distance runners Josh Phillips, Haftu Strinzos and Patrick Spychalksi recorded PRs in the 1500-meter event. Phillips came in fifth with a time of 3:45.86, with Strinzos running a 3:50.04 and Spychalski crossing the finish line in 3:56.03.

In the 5000-meter event, senior Martin Barr placed second with a time of 14:24.79, junior Ben Seiple ran a PR of 14:49.36 with a 12th place finish, and senior Rob Morro placed 17th in 15:09.37. In the sprint events, redshirt freshman Mac Costonsis also registered a new personal best with a time of 56.21 in the 400-meter hurdles, junior Dylan Henry ran the 100 in 11.16 and William Seijas ran the 400-meters in 52.76.

The following day, three Villanova runners competed in the Joe Walker Invite at Ole Miss. Fifth-year Casey Comber and redshirt freshman Sean Dolan ran two of the seven fastest times in school history in the 1500-meter event. Comber ran a time of 3:37.76, and Dolan finished with 3:38.60. Sophomore Charlie O’Donovan also recorded a sensational time of 3:40.95. These times put all three Wildcats on the weekly national leaderboard, with Dolan sitting in fourth, Comber in seventh and O’Donovan in 19th. Comber and Dolan now hold the fifth and seventh fastest times in Villanova history.