On Saturday, Villanova men’s track and field returned to Staten Island, N.Y., for the second weekend in a row, to host the Villanova Invitational. The meet, taking place at Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex, had 11 different men’s teams participate.

The Wildcats kept the top spot in the 800 meters for the second consecutive meet. Junior middle distance runner Miller Anderson finished in first place, with a winning time of 1:53.21. Along with Anderson, graduate student Jacob Bonanotte ran a 2:01.00. Junior middle distance runner Sean Dolan took first place in the 800 meter last weekend at the same complex.

Other distance runners set personal bests and shaved time off their previous races. Graduate Ryan Cutter recorded a personal best in the 3000 meters, with a time of 8:13.33. Cutter, who is a fifth-year transfer from The University of Chicago, cut almost eight seconds off his top time and finished third out of 32 runners.

Another Villanova runner in the 3000 meters was freshman Devon Comber, who was an unattached competitor and posted a personal best time of 8:20.85. Junior Mathias Powell recorded a time of 8:38.41. Sophomore Chris Weeks ran the 1000 meter in the meet, with a time of 2:34.03.

In the sprinting events, sophomore Nicholas Mollica set personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles (8.70), and the 200-meter run (22.76). Senior Dylan Henry made the final of the 60 and registered times of 7.16 in the heats, and 7.17 in the final. Graduate student Michael Troup posted a mark of 7.20 in the preliminary heats, finishing five-hundredths of a second off his personal best time. 

Senior Richie Bush ran in the 200 meters and the 4×400 meter relay. Bush finished in 12th place in the 200, running a time of 22.39, and led off the 4×400, which finished fourth with a time of 3:20.28, with a split of 49.90.

Earlier in the day, Kunzer and sophomore William Seijas each ran the 400 meters, finishing with times of 51.18 (eighth place) and 52.52 (13th place), respectively.

The throwing events produced favorable results for the Wildcats. Villanova newcomer Riley LaRiviere got third place in the weight throw, with a distance of 16.65 meters. LaRiviere placed sixth in the shot put, with a measurement of 14.26 meters. LaRiviere is a graduate transfer from Lehigh and made his Villanova debut last week in the season opener. He ranks fifth on Villanova’s all-time top-10 athletes in the weight throw, with his distance of 16.65 meters. Junior Eduardo Perez placed seventh in the shot put, with a throw of 13.58 meters.

Senior Jim Keys competed in the jumping events, clearing a height of 4.55 meters in the pole vault.

After two straight meets in New York to open the season, Villanova travels to Boston next weekend to compete in the John Thomas Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University.