NEW YORK—Fifth year women's distance runner Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) was named the BIG EAST Women's Track Athlete of the Week in an announcement made by the conference office on Wednesday afternoon. Olivere earns the third weekly BIG EAST honor of her career after running the second-fastest 3000 meter steeplechase in school history last weekend.
 
In her first race in the steeplechase this season Olivere posted a time of 9:56.57 at the Duke Invitational last Friday night. The time trails only her own school record of 9:49.88 which she set in 2021 at the end of the collegiate season. Olivere has accounted for eight of the 12 fastest times in the Villanova record book in the steeplechase during her career.
 
As the collegiate leaders and descending order lists start to take shape midway through the outdoor season, Olivere is currently in second place in the BIG EAST and in third place in the East region in the steeplechase. She is a three-time qualifier for the NCAA East Preliminary meet in her signature event. Her time at Duke last week currently ranks seventh on the national performance list for this season.
 
Olivere was named the BIG EAST Women's Track Athlete of the Week on one previous occasions outdoors, with that honor coming on March 28, 2022 tallied a runner-up finish in the steeplechase at last year's Raleigh Relays. The other weekly conference accolade during Olivere's career came during the 2021 cross country season.
 
Villanova sent contingents of athletes to both the Duke Invitational and the Miami Alumni Invitational last weekend. On tap for the team this week is competition on Friday and Saturday in the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton.