GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Sophomore thrower Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) broke a school record in the javelin and freshman distance runner Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) had a strong debut in the 3000 meter steeplechase during competition at the Pepsi Florida Relays on Friday evening.  The javelin and the steeplechase were two of the five events on the schedule for Villanova at the meet. 
 
Ashby recorded a throw of 48.03 meters (157-7) in the javelin and came in seventh out of 26 competitors in her section.  She tallied that mark on the third of her six attempts on the day, with the two of her first three throws resulting in personal best efforts.  Ashby measured a throw of 46.34 meters on her first attempt, surpassing her previous personal best of 46.16 meters which came at the Penn Relays last season. 
 
On her third throw, Ashby not only increased her distance again but also broke the school record for the longest throw since the current javelin implement was introduced in 1999.  Since that point, the longest previous throw in the Wildcats record book had been 46.19 meters by Julia Arduini at the Colonial Relays on April 6, 2012. 
 
The javelin which has been used since 1999 replaced a lighter implement which traveled further.  Former Villanova All-American Jen Pastore held the old school record with a mark of 56.16 meters using the old implement; her record was set during the 1996 Penn Relay.  Ashby, meanwhile, won a BIG EAST title and qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary meet as a freshman last year. 
 
Olivere closed out Friday's meet for the Wildcats by running the steeplechase for the first time.  She came in fourth out of 33 runners in her section with a time of 10:28.73, putting her seventh on the all-time Villanova performance list with a time that has a good chance of holding up to qualify her for the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Fla. later in the season. 
 
It has been a successful year of competition for several of the Wildcats freshman distance runners, Olivere included.  She earned first team All-BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors in cross country during the fall, ran a leg of Villanova's champion distance medley relay and scored in the 3000 meters at the indoor BIG EAST Championships, and opened her outdoor season by posting a time of 4:34.48 in the 1500 meters at the Penn Challenge last week. 
 
One of the other first-year members of the Wildcats distance group, freshman Reilly Siebert (Syosset, N.Y.), was among three Villanova runners who competed in the 800 meters in Florida.  Sophomore Rachel McArthur (Bristow, Va.) led the trio with a seventh place finish out of 50 runners and a time of 2:06.24, while Siebert crossed the finish line in 2:13.94 and junior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) recorded a time of 2:20.58.
 
Junior sprinter Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.) ran in both the 100 meter hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles at the Florida Relays, while sophomore Sarah Jones (Sewell, N.J.) also ran the 100 meter hurdles.  Jones tied for 29^th in the hurdles with a time of 14.10, while Burns ran the 100 meter hurdles in 14.14 and the 400 meter hurdles in 1:01.08.