On Saturday, March 22, Villanova track & field competed in its first outdoor meet of the season, the Penn Challenge, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
The weekend was highlighted by the second-best discus throw in program history. Sixth-year Adria Retter beat her previous discus record with a throw of 52.31 meters, while etching herself into second place in Villanova’s all-time discus throw list. She was one of six Wildcats to record personal bests this past weekend. Wildcats also finished 1-5 in the women’s 800-meter.
“You’re just training for the Big East, you’ve got probably the month of April, and you got half of May,” head coach Marcus O’Sullivan said. “We try to get people going if they need to be on top of it a little earlier.”
The women’s 800-meter was led by freshman Rosie Shay’s personal best of 2:08.83 for a first place finish. Behind Shay was freshman Bella Walsh with a time of 2:10.37. Coming in right behind Walsh was senior Emily Robinson, who finished third with a career record 2:10.80.
Next up was sixth-year Maggie Smith running a 2:11.32. Rounding out the top five, with a time of 2:11.81, sophomore Tilly O’Connor also reached a personal best.
“This one is really for people that may have come off injuries in the winter, the Big East was their ultimate performance and trying to get going early,” O’Sullivan said.
Three sprinters competed in the 400-meter men’s race after a tough winter season. At 50.52, sophomore Matthew Griffin got fourth place. Junior Jimmy Milgie was directly behind, running a 50.99. In sixth place, freshman Hayden Souza crossed the finish line in 51.18.
In the 1500-meter race, senior Margaret Carroll achieved second place at 4:30.78. On the men’s side, sophomore Kai Mitchell-Reiss ran a 3:52.80, landing him in fifth place.
“Yeah, that was good for Kai [Mitchell-Reiss],” O’Sullivan said. “And again, we’re just giving him some opportunities too. He raced well in the Big East. He’s been training decently through the wintertime.”
In their season debuts, Retter and senior Faith Haught received second and third place in discus throwing, respectively. Retter’s throw of 52.31 meters was the second-best in Villanova history as well as a personal best. Haught threw for 45.01 meters.
Four of the top 10 discus throws in program history now belong to Retter.
Junior Liam Anderson accomplished fifth place in the shot put with a distance of 14.51 meters. In sixth place was freshman Chris Coulter coming in at 14.47 meters to accomplish a personal best.
This upcoming weekend, the Wildcats will travel to Raleigh, NC for the Raleigh Relays. Hosted by NC State at the Paul Derr Track & Field Facility, the Raleigh Relays is a three-day meet.
“It’s just nice to get them going again,” O’Sullivan said. “Although from a coaching standpoint, you’re finishing one and you’re rolling into another. For the athletes, whether it was injuries or whether it was not racing much during the winter time, we’re trying to get them going for the next eight weeks before we go to conference.”
The competition will start on Thursday, March 27, starting with the 1500-meter men’s race at 4:15 p.m. (FloSports).
