May 3, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The women's track and field team had a stellar first day of competition in the 2008 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships on Saturday, May 3.

The highlight of the day for the women was the 3,000m steeplechase. In a finals-only event, senior Elizabeth Haglund claimed the 2008 title after leading all the way through. Haglund recorded a ragional qualifying time of 10:17.12 and earned 10 points for the Wildcats.

In the preliminaries for the women's 1,500m, senior Frances Koons took the top spot running the event in 4:24.40. The Wildcats had two more qualify into tomorrows final as freshman Alison Smith ran 4:26.71 and freshman Callie Hogan ran 4:29.72.

Sophomore Makalia Griffith qualified to run the finals of the 400m dash recording a time of 55.47.

Two Wildcats will run in Sunday's finals of the 800m. Senior Akilah Vargas won her heat with a time of 2:10.26 to finish second overall. Senior Arusha McKenzie placed second in her heat and was fourth overall with a regional qualifying time of 2:08.72.

Freshman Kristen Mahon will run the 400m hurdles on Sunday after posting a time of 1:01.62, while junior Jordan Sarruda will join her as she recorded a time of 1:02.33.

In the field events, freshman Ashlyn Llerandi notched a point for Villanova as she cleared a height of 3.50m in the pole vault final.

The Wildcats will be back on the track with the 1,500m run featuring Koons, Smith and Hogan beginning at 11:30 a.m.