VILLANOVA, Pa.—Ten women's athletes and eight men's athletes from Villanova were among the accepted entries for the NCAA East Preliminary which were announced on NCAA.com on Thursday afternoon.  The meet takes place next week from May 23-25 at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. and serves as the early rounds of the NCAA Championships.  The top performers from the meet in Jacksonville will advance to the national meet in Austin, Texas from June 5-8. 
 
The depth of the Wildcats roster can be seen in the team's selections for the NCAA East Preliminary meet.  Villanova has 10 women in nine different events heading to Jacksonville, including representation in two sprints, four distance races and three field events.  Graduate student Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.) is the Wildcats lone athlete who will be doubling at the meet, as she will run in the national semifinal heats of both the 5000 meters and the 10000 meters.  Distance runners Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) and Rachel McArthur (Bristow, Va.) will each compete in the 1500 meters, while freshman Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) is a qualifier in the 3000 meter steeplechase.  Sophomore Lauren Ryan (South Yarra, Australia) rounds out the distance entries and will run in the 5000 meters.
 
Junior sprinters Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica) will compete for Villanova in the 400 meter hurdles and the 100 meters, respectively.  The field athletes from the Wildcats who qualified for the East preliminary meet are sophomore thrower Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) in the javelin, freshman high jumper Sanaä Barnes (Keller, Texas) and freshman pole vaulter Ashley Preston (Franklinville, N.J.). 
 
Villanova has qualifiers in four distance events, one sprint and one field event on the men's side.  Juniors Casey Comber (Maple Glen, Pa.) and Logan Wetzel (Saline, Mich.) will each compete in the 1500 meters, while junior Andrew Marston (Wayne, Pa.) and sophomore Nick Steele (Harvard, Mass.) are return contenders in the 10000 meters and the 3000 meter steeplechase, respectively.  Making his first trip to the regional meet is sophomore Martin Barr (Skokie, Ill.) in the 5000 meters, while sophomore sprinter Keegan Hughes (Malvern, Pa.) will also debut at the meet in the 400 meter hurdles.  Sophomore high jumper Jacob Kelly (Longmeadow, Mass.) and senior javelin thrower Jack Judge (Palisades, N.Y.) round out the Wildcats contingent. 
 
Action gets underway at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus on Thursday at 12 p.m. with the first round trials and final in women's javelin.  The first round of the women's high jump takes place later in the afternoon, while Thursday evening will also feature the national first round heats of the 400 meter hurdles, the 1500 meters and the 100 meters.  The semifinal heats of the 10000 meters wrap up the first day of competition. 
 
Friday's schedule includes first round competition in men's javelin and women's pole vault, in addition to the quarterfinal round of the 100 meters and the 3000 meter steeplechase.  The meet wraps up on Saturday with the quarterfinal heats of the 1500 meters, semifinal heats of the 5000 meters and the first round of competition in men's high jump.