JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—After a wild first day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary meet at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, women's competition is set to get underway on Thursday with a modified schedule due to the threat of severe weather. Villanova will have three athletes in competition on Thursday in the women's 800 meters, 400 meter hurdles and 10000 meters. Live action on the track can be seen on ESPN+ and fans can access live results from Flash Results. Here is what to watch for in Thursday's events.
 
4:20 PM
 
Women's 800 Meters
First Round
Lizzie Martell
Heat 3
 
Martell is making her third career appearance at the NCAA East Preliminary meet but her first wearing a Villanova singlet. She competed as an undergraduate at New Hampshire and twice qualified for this meet in the 800 meters, advancing as far as the national quarterfinal round in 2021. This season Martell has been the Wildcats top performer in the 800 meters and recorded a lifetime best mark of 2:03.93 at the Larry Ellis Invitational earlier this month. She was the BIG EAST silver medalist in the 800 meters in her last race, earning her first career BIG EAST medal after previously being an America East 800 meter champion at New Hampshire. Martell extended Villanova's streak to 13 consecutive outdoor seasons of having at least one BIG EAST medalist in women's 800 meters.
 
4:50 PM
 
Women's 400 Meter Hurdles
First Round
Olivia Allen
Heat 1
 
Allen is coming off one of the most sensational performances in years by a Villanova athlete in the 400 meter hurdles. She won her second career BIG EAST title in the event 12 days ago and lowered her lifetime PR to 58.01 in the BIG EAST final. That mark lifts Allen into second place on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the hurdles and she improved her PR by a margin of nearly 1.5 seconds. With Allen in second place on the program's all-time list, her own mother – former Villanova great Debbie Grant – drops into third place. Her collegiate PR in the 400 meter hurdles was 58.36, and mother and daughter are now each two-time BIG EAST champions in the hurdles during their collegiate careers. This is the first career appearance for Allen at the NCAA East Preliminary.
 
9:10 PM
 
Women's 10000 Meters
Semifinal
Sadie Sigfstead
 
The first opportunity for a Villanova athlete to punch their ticket to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships will come late Thursday night when Sigfstead runs in the national semifinal round of the 10000 meters. She was a second team All-American in the 10K last year when she finished 12^th at the national meet. Sigfstead owns three of the top six and four of the top 12 times in school history in the 10K, including the No. 2 time and her lifetime best mark of 32:39.54 earlier this season as she won her first career Penn Relays title. Thursday night's race will be the first of two this week for Sigfstead, who will also run Saturday night in the semifinal heats of the 5000 meters.