Photo Gallery | Updated Villanova All-Time Performance Lists

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - On the final evening of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary, senior Stephanie Schappert (Delray Beach, Fla.) and junior Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) each advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 1500 meters. Both runners competed in the first quarterfinal heat and were among the 12 competitors who advanced through to the national meet in Oregon next month. Senior Katherine Petruzzellis (Annandale, N.J.) also competed in the high jump at Hodges Stadium on Saturday night and wound up finishing 30th overall.

Schappert will be competing at the NCAA Championships outdoors for the first time in her career, while Piccirillo is a qualifier in the 1500 meters for the second straight season. Their quarterfinal heat was significantly faster than the second one and Schappert finished third in the heat to automatically advance to the national championships. Piccirillo came in sixth in the heat and advanced to Eugene on time. The finishing times for Schappert and Piccirillo were impressive ones; 4:13.26 and 4:15.44, respectively.

There was little separation in the pack during the first 700 meters of the race and Piccirillo was in second place with two laps to go. The pace picked up with 600 meters left and at the start of the bell lap Piccirillo was still in second place with Schappert in fourth. Even with 300 meters left the competition for a top-five finishing spot and a guaranteed NCAA Championships berth was remarkably tight. As the runners passed through the final turn the chase pack had caught up to the front five.

A mere 0.36 seconds wound up separating the runners in second through fourth place at the finish line, and the fifth place runner was within half a second of that group. Rhianwedd Price from Missisippi State won the heat in 4:10.95 and was followed by teammate Marta Freitas (4:13.17) in second place. The pair had each won their respective heats in the first round on Thursday night. Schappert was in third (4:13.26), with Katrina Coogan from Georgetown (4:13.53) and Amanda Smith from Virginia Tech (4:14.01) following her. Piccirillo (4:15.44) and Linden Hall from Florida State (4:16.97) placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Each of their times were faster than the winning time in the second heat.

In addition to qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Schappert also ran one of the fastest 1500 meters races in school history. Her time of 4:13.26 is the eighth-fastest in the Villanova record book and moves her up to sixth on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the 1500 meters. She and Piccirillo now rank sixth and seventh, respectively, on that performance list. Piccirillo ran a personal best time of 4:13.49 at the Payton Jordan Invitational earlier this season. The last Villanova runner with a faster 1500 meters race than Schappert and Piccirillo was Frances Koons, who had a time of 4:13.23 at the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet on May 12, 2008.

Petruzzellis competed at the NCAA East Preliminary for the first time in her career and cleared a height of 1.70 meters. She wound up in 16th place in her flight and 30th overall with that mark. The competition opened at 1.65 meters and Petruzzellis cleared the bar on her third and final attempt. She made it two successful jumps in a row when she was over the bar at 1.70 meters on her first try. Petruzzellis was eliminated with three misses when the bar moved to 1.75 meters. Nearly half the field (23 of 48 competitors) went out at or before that height.

The NCAA Championships take place at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus from June 10-13. The semifinal heats of the women's 1500 meters take place on Thursday, June 11 and the national championship race follows on Saturday, June 13.