CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Several of the younger members of the Villanova roster turned in strong performances on Saturday afternoon at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational, where the Wildcats had athletes competing in eight different events at Cobb Stadium. Freshman middle distance runner Sammy Bockoven (Hudson, Ohio) established a new personal best time in the 800 meters of the second straight week and led a group of three Villanova runners who placed in the top six of the event.

Bockoven crossed the finish line in the 800 meters with a time of 2:09.93, nearly a full second faster than she ran at the Colonial Relays last week. She came in third out of 26 runners overall, while sophomore Rebecca Del Rossi (Canton, N.Y.) came in fourth with a time of 2:12.80 and freshman Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) was sixth in 2:17.03.

Two sophomores also had good races in the 400 meters, with Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Dublin, Ireland) and Sidney Hayes (Spring Grove, Pa.) placing eighth (55.97) and 10th (56.53), respectively, in a field of 28 runners.

Junior Veronica Scott (Plymouth, N.H.) and sophomore Katie HoSang (Bedford, N.H.) had big days in the hurdles. Scott finished ninth out of 30 runners in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.12, while HoSang registered times of 14.86 in the 100 meter hurdles and 1:05.38 in the 400 meter hurdles. Her time in the 100 meter hurdles is a personal best and marks the first time she has crossed the finish line in the event in under 15 seconds.

Following the conclusion of the individual events, the quartet of Scott, Hayes, Cleirigh Buttner and HoSang teamed up for the 4x400 meter relay and tallied an 11th place finish while recording a time of 3:55.82.

Three athletes competed for the Wildcats in the field events. Senior Anne Yahiro (Downers Grove, Ill.) finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 12.06 meters and junior Ekiah Lewis (San Bernardino, Calif.) was third in the long jump after measuring a distance of 5.65 meters. Freshman Catherine Walker (Chester, N.Y.) tied for sixth in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 3.40 meters.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

100 Meter Hurdles

Katie HoSang                 28th of 43           14.86

400 Meters

Siofra Cleirigh Buttner      8th of 28            55.97Sidney Hayes                 10th                 56.53

400 Meter Hurdles

Veronica Scott               9th of 30            1:02.12Katie HoSang                 16th                 1:05.38

800 Meters

Sammy Bockoven               3rd of 26            2:09.93Rebecca Del Rossi            4th                  2:12.80Nicole Hutchinson            6th                  2:17.03

4x400 Meter Relay

Villanova                    11th of 17           3:55.82Veronica Scott               1st Leg Sidney Hayes                 2nd LegSiofra Cleirigh Buttner      3rd LegKatie HoSang                 Anchor

Pole Vault

Catherine Walker             tie-6th of 9         3.40m

Long Jump

Ekiah Lewis                  3rd of 12            5.65m

Triple Jump

Anne Yahiro                  3rd of 8             12.06m