Last Friday, the Wildcats hosted the annual Jack Pyrah Invitational at Haverford College. This year the event kicked off the start of Villanova’s indoor track and field season for both the men’s and women’s squads. The men and women started their season by setting four meet records.

Out of 15 track and field events, the women’s team took first place in eight. Senior Monique Morgan led the team, earning first-place finishes in two events. In the 55-meter dash, she won with a time of 7.17 seconds, a new meet record which surpassed the old one by .08 seconds. Freshman Makalia Smith took first in the 500-meter run, and set a meet record with a time of 1:15.85, besting the old record of 1:18.52 set by Rachel Johnson of Temple in 2003. Smith’s time of 40.48 seconds was also good enough for first place in the 300-meter dash. Sophomore Thelma Akpan also broke a meet record with a high jump attempt of 1.65 meters, .05 meters better than the old record. The Wildcats also set a new Jack Pyrah Invitational record in the 4×400-meter relay, with a time of 3:55.79, breaking the record set by Villanova at last year’s event. Villanova athletes also claimed victories in the 1,000-meter run, the 3,000-meter run and the triple jump.

The men’s squad shared in the Wildcats’ success at the invitational track meet by capturing seven first-place finishes themselves; six different athletes and the Villanova “A” relay team finished first in their respective events. The Wildcats showed particular prowess in the middle distance events with victories in 500-meter, 800-meter and 1,000-meter. Villanova athletes also registered victories in the 5,000-meter run, the 4×400-meter relay and the weight throw.