VILLANOVA, Pa.—For the first time in nearly 40 years the BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Jeep are headed to New York City.  This year marks the first time since the inaugural conference meet was held at St. John's in 1980 – one year before Villanova joined the league – that the outdoor BIG EAST Championships will be held in New York.  Since that inaugural season, 25 of the past 38 outdoor BIG EAST meets have been hosted at Villanova. 
 
This year's BIG EAST competition takes place at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island on Friday and Saturday.  Icahn Stadium is the signature facility of the Randall's Island Park Alliance and opened on April 23, 2005 on the site of the former Downing Stadium.  Located along Randall's Island Park's northwestern shoreline, the Stadium is visible from the East Side of Manhattan and the FDR Drive. 
 
Both days of the 2019 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi.  The broadcasts can be found on Caffeine.TV and @BIGEAST Twitter. 
 
Eight women's teams and seven men's programs will compete in a meet program that consists of 22 events: 10 individual running events, three relays, eight field events and the heptathlon (women) and decathlon (men).  Trophies will be awarded to the overall team champions and the runners-up, while the top three finishers in each event will be presented with medals on the awards podium.  To date, the Villanova women have won a record 11 team titles while capturing 152 events and recording 357 top-three finishes.  The men's team has won seven team titles and 133 events while posting 277 top-three finishes. 
 
Villanova enters the BIG EAST meet with the leading conference performers in seven different events.  Of note, sophomore sprinter Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica), freshman high jumper Sanaä Barnes (Keller, Texas) and sophomore thrower Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) all have set school records while sitting atop the conference performance list in their respective events.  Williamson ran the 100 meters in 11.58 at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational in Miami last month, while Ashby threw the javelin for 48.03 meters at the Florida Relays in March.  Barnes set the outdoor school record in the high jump when she cleared a height of 1.82 meters at the Penn Relays two weeks ago.  She set the indoor and absolute Wildcats standard of 1.84 meters at the NCAA Championships earlier this year.
 
The other events the Wildcats are leading the BIG EAST in are the 800 meters (Rachel McArthur, 2:06.24); the 10000 meters (Caroline Alcorta, 32:53.26); the pole vault (Ashley Preston, 3.90 meters); and the heptathlon (Liv Morgan, 4926 points). 
 
Villanova has posted conference leading marks in four men's events to this point in the season.  Expected to compete this weekend are sophomore sprinter Keegan Hughes (Malvern, Pa.) in the 400 meter hurdles (52.68), junior pole vaulter Thomas Conboy (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) (4.85 meters) and senior javelin thrower Jack Judge (Palisades, N.Y.) (63.59 meters).