PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—All three events that Villanova competed in on the final day of the Penn Relays were championship sections, including the Championship of America race in the 4x800 meter relay on Saturday afternoon along with the discus and high jump earlier in the day. Sophomore high jumper Malaika Cunningham (St. Andrew, Jamaica) recorded the Wildcats best result of the day with a tie for third place. The 4x800 relay was the final event of the weekend for Villanova during the 129^th running of the world's oldest and largest track & field competition.
 
Cunningham cleared the bar at 1.70 meters in the high jump at a point in the day where the weather made conditions difficult on the field of 13 athletes. All but two of the high jumpers came in at the opening height of 1.65 meters and there were 11 in the competition when the bar was raised to 1.70 meters. Cunningham started the day 2-for-2 with successful attempts at each of the opening heights before missing on three jumps at 1.75 meters. That third height claimed nine of the remaining 11 athletes in the competition and Cunningham tied for third place as one of three athletes without a miss prior to 1.75 meters.
 
This is the second straight year to begin her collegiate career that Cunningham has competed in the championship section at the Penn Relays. She finished in seventh place in similar weather conditions last season with a mark of 1.65 meters before improving by four spots in this year's competition. The burgeoning standout on the Wildcats roster is the BIG EAST leader this season with a height of 1.77 meters recorded at the Virginia Challenge last week.
 
Villanova recorded a time of 8:37.63 in the 4x800 meter relay and tallied a seventh place finish. Fifth year collegian Lizzie Martell (Essex Junction, Vt.) had a split of 2:07.40 on the anchor leg and made up ground as she moved the Wildcats up two spots at the finish line from where she got the baton. It was a steady performance overall for a young Villanova team which has gained a wealth of experience both this season and in the past two days specifically.
 
One day after becoming the Wildcats first collegiate rookie in 23 years to anchor a Championship of America distance medley relay squad, Rosie Shay (Middletown, N.J.) led off the 4x800 with a split of 2:10.66. She handed off to junior Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.) who split 2:08.10 on the second leg. At the second exchange, first year Bella Walsh (Wilmington, Del.) took over and produced a split of 2:11.48 before handing off to Martell on the anchor.
 
Walsh also ran the 1500 meters on distance night Thursday before running her first collegiate Championship of America race in the 4x800. Martell led off Friday afternoon's distance medley relay in her first Penn Relays race wearing the Villanova singlet.
 
First up for the Wildcats on Saturday morning was the championship section of the discus which sixth year collegian Adria Retter (Quakertown, Pa.) competed in for the second straight year. Retter had a mark of 48.80 meters on her second throw and finished 13^th overall.
 
There were highlights for Villanova beyond just its current student-athletes during Saturday's events at Franklin Field. Alumna Sanaä Barnes won the Olympic Development Women's High Jump Elite competition with a successful clearance on her first attempt at 1.87 meters. One of her former Villanova teammates, McKenna Keegan, tallied a fifth place finish in the Olympic Development Women's 600 Meter Elite race with a time of 1:29.45.
 
Villanova alumna Krestena Sullivan became the program's sixth women's athlete to earn individual induction onto the Penn Relays Wall of Fame. She was recognized at an event for this year's class of inductees on Saturday morning, as well as in front of the Wall of Fame on the Franklin Field track during the day's events. Sullivan presented the Penn Relays Championship of America wheel to this year's winner of the 4x1500 meter relay.