JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Women's competition at the 2025 NCAA East Preliminary meet began on Thursday with three Villanova athletes in action. Fifth year middle distance runner
Lizzie Martell (Essex Junction, Vt.) and sophomore sprinter
Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) ran in the first round heats of the 800 meters and the 400 meter hurdles, respectively, while senior distance runner
Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) takes to the track later Thursday night for the national semifinal round of the 10000 meters.
Martell ran in the third of six heats in the first round of the 800 meters and tallied a time of 2:05.31. She is a veteran of this meet and was competing at the East Prelims for the third time in her career despite this being her first season of competition in a Wildcats singlet. Martell began her collegiate career at New Hampshire and qualified for this meet in the 800 meters in both 2021 and 2023. She finished fourth in her heat on Thursday afternoon to close her 2025 campaign.
After redshirting the indoor season earlier this year, Martell came back strong outdoors and earned her spot at the NCAA East Prelims by running a lifetime best mark of 2:03.93 at the Larry Ellis Invitational earlier this month. She broke 2:05 twice during the season, first at the Larry Ellis meet and then in the final at the BIG EAST Championships two weeks ago when she earned a silver medal with a time of 2:04.14. Martell extended Villanova's streak to 13 consecutive outdoor seasons in which it has had a BIG EAST medalist in the 800 meters.
The schedule for Thursday's competition – a modified timeline after nearly five hours of weather delays in men's action on Wednesday night – called for the 800 meters and the 400 meter hurdles to be contested back-to-back. There were rumblings of thunder in the later heats of the 800 meters however, and by the time the final heat concluded the severe weather was in close enough proximity to suspend competition around 4:45 p.m.
It was inopportune timing for Allen, who was already finishing her warmups before coming onto the track for the first heat of the 400 meter hurdles. She instead had to wait through a delay that would end up lasting nearly three hours before going off just before 7:30 p.m.
Allen recorded a time of 1:01.24 to put a cap on what has been an excellent sophomore season. She won her second straight BIG EAST title in the 400 meter hurdles two weeks ago, matching the accomplishment of her own mother – former Villanova great Debbie Grant – who won two of her 13 career BIG EAST titles in the 400 meter hurdles in 1984 and 1985.
In winning her second BIG EAST title two weeks ago, Allen posted a personal best time of 58.01 and moved up three spots into second place in school history in the 400 meter hurdles. She passed Debbie among others, as mother and daughter now rank 2-3 on the Wildcats all-time performance list with collegiate PRs of 58.01 and 58.36, respectively.
Allen excelled in more than just the hurdles as a sophomore this season. In a span of 44 days in February and March which bridged the end of the indoor season and start of the outdoor campaign, she lowered her lifetime PR in the 400 meters in four consecutive races. Her current top mark of 54.70 puts her eighth in school history in the event. The time was recorded at the Raleigh Relays in her outdoor season opener and marked the first time she moved into the Villanova top 10 in the 400 meters.
The start of the women's semifinal race in the 10000 meters is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. on Thursday night.
