VILLANOVA, Pa.—The accepted athletes for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet were announced on Thursday afternoon and Villanova will be represented by nine student-athletes in the early rounds of the national championships which take place in Jacksonville, Fla. on the University of North Florida campus next week. The meet takes place from May 24-27, with women's competition slated for Thursday, May 25 and Saturday, May 27. The top performers in each event at the East Preliminary competition will advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas from June 7-10.
Four of the Wildcats qualifiers for regionals will compete in distance events, including fifth year athlete
Ariana Gardizy (Lansdale, Pa.) and sophomore
Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) who will each run in the national semifinal race of the 10,000 meters on Thursday night. Fifth year senior
Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) and senior
Anna Helwigh (Soborg, Denmark), veteran performers in the 3000 meter steeplechase, will each run in the quarterfinal round of that event on Saturday evening at the East Preliminary.
Villanova also has two regional qualifiers in the 800 meters, including senior
Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) for the third straight year along with freshman
Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.) who will make her debut at the meet. Three other Wildcats qualifiers will return to the East preliminary meet in their respective field events. Fifth year pole vaulter
Ashley Preston (Franklinville, N.J.) and junior high jumper
Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) will each compete at regionals for the third time in their careers, while fifth year athlete
Liv Morgan (Bronx, N.Y.) is a qualifier in the javelin for the second straight season.
Next week's NCAA East Preliminary consists of the top 48 declared athletes in each individual event that is part of the NCAA Championships meet program, as well as the top 24 declared teams in both the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay. Regional competition takes place in both the East and at the NCAA West Preliminary meet, held in Sacramento, Calif. on the same dates as the East meet. The top 12 athletes from each regional competition will move on to the NCAA Championships.
All nine of the Villanova athletes who will compete at the NCAA East Preliminary were BIG EAST scorers in their respective events at the conference championships last week. That includes the trio of Sigfstead, Clayton and Preston who each won BIG EAST titles at home in the friendly confines of Villanova Stadium. Trusty, Gardizy, Olivere and Helwigh each earned All-BIG EAST honors at the conference meet. Sigfstead and Gardizy placed 1-2 in the 10000 meters, while Olivere and Helwigh tallied second and third place finishes in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Last year at the NCAA Championships the Wildcats tallied a top-20 team finish thanks to top-four scorers in both the 800 meters and the high jump. It marked the 30
th time since 1982 that Villanova scored team points at the national meet. At least one women's athlete has represented the Wildcats at the NCAA Championships in each of the last 19 seasons the meet has been held.
VILLANOVA WOMEN'S EVENT SCHEDULE – NCAA EAST PRELIMINARY MEET
Thursday, May 25
1:30 PM – Women's Javelin
6:30 PM – Women's Pole Vault
7:50 PM – Women's 800 Meters
9:10 PM – Women's 10000 Meters
Saturday, May 27
2:30 PM – Women's High Jump
5:40 PM – Women's 3000 Meter Steeplechase
7:05 PM – Women's 800 Meters
