PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Villanova finished third in the Championship of America distance medley relay race and also competed in a pair of distance night individual races at Franklin Field on Thursday night as the first day of action wrapped up at the 125^th Penn Relays.  The lineup of graduate student Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.), junior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.), sophomore Rachel McArthur (Bristow, Va.) and senior Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) posted a time of 11:05.67 in the distance medley relay. 
 
The distance medley races are always among the most highly-anticipated events at the Penn Relays, and there were as many as seven teams that entered Thursday night's race with a legitimate chance to come away with a Championship of America wheel.  It was Penn that came away with the first-place finish in 10:59.44, followed by Notre Dame (11:02.67) and the Wildcats in the top three. 
 
Alcorta led off for Villanova and posted a split of 3:31.61 over the first 1200 meters of the race.  She was followed by Onque-Shabazz, who ran a terrific 400 meter leg and posted a career-best split of 53.57.  It was more than a full second faster than her previous best split, which was 54.75 at the indoor NCAA Championships earlier this year.  Over the final two legs of the race, McArthur had a split of 2:06.42 for 800 meters and Hutchinson anchored with a 1600 meter leg of 4:34.09. 
 
Penn established a large lead early in the race and was ahead by nearly five seconds at the first exchange.  The gap continued to widen as the Quakers pushed their lead over the chase pack and the rest of the field of 14 teams to as much as 100 meters at points during the second and third legs of the relay.
 
"I am really proud of our girls for never giving up," Wildcats head coach Gina Procaccio said.  "They kept fighting right up until the finish line.  Today's race is over and now it is on to tomorrow."
 
Villanova will compete in the 4x1500 meter relay at 1:15 p.m. on Friday among the other events on its schedule for the day.
 
During the distance night races freshman Reilly Siebert (Syosset, N.Y.) ran in the 3000 meters, while the duo of sophomore Lauren Ryan (South Yarra, Australia) and senior Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) competed in the 5000 meters.  Siebert came in 16^th in the championship of the 3000 meters with a time of 9:56.96. 
 
In the 5000 meters, Ryan came in sixth out of 59 runners with a time of 16:28.68.  Burda crossed the finish line in 17:26.54.