Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Adrian Blincoe named to New Zealand Olympic Team

Adrian Blincoe has been officially selected for his second Olympic Games and will run the 5000 meters in London.

Blincoe, who holds the New Zealand national 5000 meter record of 13:10.19, met the New Zealand Olympic Committee selection standard (i.e., the Olympic "A" standard) of 13:20 in July 2011, running 13:18.27 in Barcelona.

He was not named in March's initial team selection, pending proof of his current form. With the US season now underway and a strong time of 13:23.27 recorded in California last week, the selectors are satisfied with Blincoe's fitness.

Blincoe represented New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, and the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. He was a world outdoor championships semi-finalist in the 1500 meters in both 2003 and 2005. He has personal bests of 3:35.50 in the 1500 meters, 3:54.40 in the mile, 7:46.40 in the 3000 meters, and 13:10.19 in the 5000 meters.

While competing for Villanova, Blincoe won both individual (3000 meters) and relay NCAA titles (anchoring two DMR champions) and was a 7-time All-American. He has served as an assistant coach at Villanova since 2003.

His selection brings the New Zealand Olympic athletics team to six with further selections expected.


Current selections
Valerie Adams                    Shot Put
Adrian Blincoe                   5000 metres
Stuart Farquhar                  Javelin
Quentin Rew                      50km Walk
Kimberley Smith                  Marathon
Nick Willis                      1500 meters

Monday, May 28, 2012

Josh Lampron Wins 800-Mile Double at MA State Meet


For the second time in the weekend, a Villanova signee has won two state titles at the same championship meet. Joining Angel Piccirillo's 800-1600 double at the Pennsylvania state meet, Mansfield High's Josh Lampron won two Massachusetts state titles over the weekend, in the 800 meters (1:52.03 PR) and the mile (4:09.49), each setting a new meet record. Lampron already owns the #1 prep time in the US over 1500 meters; his time of 3:45.74 (the metric equivalent of a 4:03.5 mile) places Lampron in the top 20 all-time preps at that distance. His open mile PR is 4:05.99. The 800-mile titles for Lampron bring his total number of Massachusetts state championships to five. Lampron will compete in the adidas Dream Mile at the adidas Grand Prix on June 9 in New York.

Here are the results of the 800 and mile finals:

Boys 800 Meter Run
============================================================================
        Meet: * 1:54.02  5/29/2010   Clint Burns, Whitman Hanson Reg HS        
    Name                    Year School                  Seed     Finals
============================================================================
  1 Lampron, Josh             12 Mansfield            1:53.89    1:52.03*
  2 Gorham, Sean              12 Oliver Ames          1:55.07    1:53.61*  
  3 Lueders, Ben              12 Needham              1:59.11    1:56.60  
  4 May, Bernard              12 Silver Lake          1:59.45    1:57.21 
  5 Almono, Max               12 North Andove         1:58.45    1:58.17
  6 Palladino, Daniel         10 Wellesley            2:02.12    1:58.89
  7 O'Connell, Danny          11 Central Cath         1:58.19    1:59.11
  8 Green, Paul               12 Belmont              1:58.74    1:59.52
  9 Eisenstein, James         12 Wellesley            2:00.93    1:59.79  
 10 Sepulveda, Kenneth        12 Greater New          2:01.31    2:00.31  
 11 Stephansky, Nate          11 Whitman-Hans         2:00.54    2:00.80  
 12 Gikas, Alex               11 Masconomet           2:00.72    2:00.91  
 13 Horahan, Keon             12 Tewksbury            2:02.44    2:01.43  
 14 Donovan, Connor           09 Oliver Ames          2:01.69    2:03.73  
 15 Chan, Ryan                11 Wellesley            2:04.61    2:04.97  
 16 Jutras, Trevor            12 Greater Lowe         2:04.84    2:05.04  
 17 MacArthur, Greg           12 North Andove         2:05.14    2:09.49 
Boys 1 Mile Run
============================================================================
        Meet: * 4:16.72  2008        Omar Aden, Charlestown HS                 
    Name                    Year School                  Seed     Finals
============================================================================
  1 Lampron, Josh             12 Mansfield            4:23.98    4:09.59*
  2 Hubbard, Joel             12 Marshfield           4:18.39    4:12.59*
  3 Stipp, Quentin            12 Arlington            4:16.24    4:17.10
  4 McDonald-Meteer, Daniel   11 Arlington            4:23.26    4:21.57
  5 Gonser, Owen              10 King Philip          4:26.18    4:22.83
  6 Kerester, Andrew          12 Oliver Ames          4:29.81    4:28.61
  7 Green, Nick               12 Stoughton            4:30.59    4:30.60
  8 Murphy, Jimmy             10 Mansfield            4:35.87    4:30.89
  9 Days-Merrill, Taylor      12 Greater New          4:36.64    4:32.16  
 10 Walton, Russell           11 Concord-Carl         4:29.10    4:32.65  
 11 Meehan, Matt              10 Marshfield           4:33.98    4:34.61  
 12 Lawlor, Seamus            11 Concord-Carl         4:30.07    4:34.64  
 13 Mears, Joseph             10 Wellesley            4:39.36    4:35.38  
 14 Alpert, Daniel            10 Needham              4:37.04    4:36.62  
 15 Tautiva, Michael          10 Marshfield           4:35.70    4:37.09  
 16 Moorman, Jake             11 Masconomet           4:33.07    4:37.13  
 17 Rich, Brian               11 Concord-Carl         4:37.48    4:41.58  
 18 Collins, Danny            12 Salem                4:40.00    4:42.95  
 19 Saccardo, Chris           12 Natick               4:40.08    4:43.16  
 20 Schofield, Ben            11 Concord-Carl         4:40.09    4:44.55  
 21 Franco, Patrick           11 Winchester           4:37.24    4:48.45  
 22 Ulian, Chris              10 Wellesley            4:39.94    4:49.60  
 23 Fitzgerald, Butch         11 Greater Lowe         4:37.94    4:49.80  
 24 Tavoletti, Jason          12 Reading              4:39.04    4:52.11  
 25 Gidley, Adam              12 Central Cath         4:30.19    4:53.95 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Angel Piccirillo Wins 800-1600 Double at State Meet
Nova Signee is 10X Pennsylvania State Champion


Villanova's 2012 signee Angel Piccirillo (Homer Center, PA) said goodbye to her prep career in style today at the Pennsylvania State championship meet in Shippensburg. Piccirillo, who already owns the USA prep #2 time in the mile, won the state title in the 1600 meters in a US #1 time of 4:39.42. It shattered the 32-year old PIAA state record by a whopping 12.6 seconds. An hour later, Piccirillo lined up for the state final in the 800 meters. She won her second state title of the day, running another PIAA state record of 2:09.68 (this time erasing a 31-year old record). These wins give Piccirillo a career total of 10 state championships: four indoor, four outdoor, and two in cross country.

"It's been a weird spring," said Piccirillo, who will attend Villanova come August. "I had some highlights, but I didn't accomplish some of the things I'd set out to do.

"I knew I wanted to go after that state record, and I wanted to do it in front of this crowd."

She'll arrive at Villanova with the following resume:

2010
State Champion Indoor Mile
State Champion Outdoor 1600 meters
Penn Relays Championship of America Mile winner
State Champion Cross Country
Foot Locker Cross Country National Finalist
Gatorade PA Cross Country Athlete of the Year
PTFCA Cross Country Athlete of the Year

2011
State Champion Indoor Mile
State Champion Outdoor 1600 meters
Penn Relays Championship of America Mile winner
State Champion Cross Country
Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Champion
Foot Locker Cross Country National Finalist
Foot Locker Cross Country All-American
PTFCA Cross Country Athlete of the Year
Gatorade PA Cross Country Athlete of the Year
PTFCA Outdoor Women's Athlete of the Year

2012
State Champion Indoor Mile
State Champion Indoor 3000 meters
Penn Relays Championship of America Mile Runner-Up
State Champion Outdoor 800 meters
State Champion Outdoor 1600 meters

Reid and Mimic Qualify for NCAA Nationals at 5000 Meters


The NCAA East Regional ended well for Villanova this evening as both Bogdana Mimic and defending NCAA champion Sheila Reid qualified for NCAA Nationals in the 5000 meters. Mimic ran in heat 1 and stayed at the front of the pack throughout, cognizant of the fact that the top 5 finishers in each heat qualified automatically for Nationals. Mimic came through to finish 5th, running 16:28.14 in a very economical fashion.

The defending NCAA champion in this event, Sheila Reid was part of a three-person breakaway that stretched out the field in heat 2. Emily Sisson led throughout the race, with Reid sticking to her heels until approximately 800 meters remaining. Her spot among the top 5 firmly secured, Reid did not contest Sisson's surge and coasted home safely in third place, in 16:13.47 (recall that Reid was 4th in her Regional qualifier last year).

Overall, an excellent final day of the regional. Villanova successfully qualified 4 of their 5 competitors today: Sam McEntee in the 1500, Shericka Ward in the 100 meter hurdles, and both Mimic and Reid at 5000 meters. Add those names to Sam Ellison, who qualified yesterday in the 800 meters, and Villanova will send 5 athletes to Des Moines in two weeks for a shot at national glory.

Women's 5000 Meters

    Name                    Yr   Affiliation    Time       Heat(Pl)
 1. Emily Sisson            SO   Providence     15:53.62 Q  2 (1)
 2. Kayleigh Tyerman        JR   Florida State  16:06.28 Q  2 (2)
 3. Sheila Reid             SR   Villanova      16:13.47 Q  2 (3)
 4. Chelsea Ley             FR   Virginia       16:15.11 Q  2 (4)
 5. Abbey D'Agostino        SO   Dartmouth      16:15.35 Q  1 (1)
 6. Corey Conner            JR   Maine          16:22.77 Q  1 (2)
 7. Madeline Chambers       SO   Georgetown     16:23.12 Q  1 (3)
 8. Charlotte Ff-O'Carroll  JR   Providence     16:23.81 Q  1 (4)
 9. Lauren Penney           JR   Syracuse       16:24.96 Q  2 (5)
10. Jessica O'Connell       SR   W. Virginia    16:26.18 q  2 (6)
11. Kathleen Stevens        FR   Virginia       16:26.91 q  2 (7)
12. Bogdana Mimic           JR   Villanova      16:28.14 Q  1 (5)
13. Laura Carleton          JR   LSU            16:38.29    2 (8)
14. Sara Kroll              FR   Michigan St    16:38.47    1 (6)
15. Rosa Moriello           SO   Boston U.      16:38.59    2 (9)
16. Heidi Caldwell          SO   Brown          16:38.76    1 (7)
17. Chelsea Burns           SR   Colgate        16:39.83    1 (8)
18. Madeline Morgan         JR   Duke           16:40.11    1 (9)
19. Samantha Hamilton       JR   Youngstown St. 16:42.40    2 (10)
20. Allison Lasnicki        FR   Connecticut    16:43.37    1 (10)
21. Kimberly Ruck           SR   Clemson        16:43.70    2 (11)
22. Melissa Chapman         SO   Yale           16:43.86    1 (11)
23. Jemeli Sang             SR   USC Upstate    16:44.92    2 (12)
24. Andie Cozzarelli        JR   NC St.         16:45.66    1 (12)
25. Joanna Stevens          FR   Georgetown     16:47.58    1 (13)
26. Kirsten Kasper          SO   Georgetown     16:48.07    2 (13)
27. Sarah Rapp              FR   Va Tech        16:51.74    2 (14)
28. Annamarie Maag          FR   Georgetown     16:53.09    1 (14)
29. Lindsay Crevoiserat     FR   Connecticut    16:54.01    2 (15)
30. Hope Krause             SR   Boston Coll    16:54.46    1 (15)
31. Chelsea Sumney          SO   UNC-G          16:57.30    2 (16)
32. Chelsea Blanchard       SR   Indiana        16:59.52    2 (17)
33. Brittany Copeland       JR   E. Carolina    16:59.72    1 (16)
34. Sarah Hudak             JR   UAB            17:02.97    2 (18)
35. Lianne Farber           SO   UNC            17:03.48    1 (17)
36. Clare Buck              JR   Columbia       17:04.34    1 (18)
37. Natalie Anthony         FR   Clemson        17:04.46    1 (19)
38. Emily Jones             JR   Georgetown     17:04.94    1 (20)
39. Kristen Smith           JR   Vanderbilt     17:05.69    2 (19)
40. Dani Walker             SO   Lipscomb       17:10.99    1 (21)
41. Brenna Symoniak         SO   Syracuse       17:21.05    2 (20)
42. Shaina Sumney           JR   UNC-G          17:31.94    1 (22)
43. Brooklyne Ridder        JR   Penn State     17:51.62    1 (23)
44. Ashley Vincent          SO   Xavier (Ohio)  18:10.64    1 (24)
DNF Allie Prendergast       SR   South Florida     
DNF Carlie Green            SR   Michigan St    
DNF Kristie Krueger         JR   Georgia          
DNF Ashley Schnell          SR   UNC-G

McEntee & Ward Advance to NCAA National Championships

It was deja vu all over again today in Sam McEntee's 1500 meter race at the NCAA East Regional. Executing the same tactic as in his preliminary round, McEntee ran in last place and out of trouble through 800 meters, then went immediately to the front and pushed the pace over the final 700 meters. In the preliminary round, McEntee held off all comers and won the heat. Today, he held off all but two men, finished third in this heat (in 3:48.73) and automatically qualified for the NCAA National championship meet at Drake University in Des Moines. McEntee has thus qualified for Nationals both indoors and outdoors this year and hopes to improve on his 4th place All-American performance indoors earlier this year. As seen in the results below, McEntee's heat was the slower of the two heats, and both qualifiers on time came from the other heat. In a surprising twist, neither Penn State's Robby Creese, the NCAA record holder over 1000 meters, nor Notre Dame's Jeremy Rae, a two-time Big East champion and 2011 NCAA outdoor finalist, advanced to Nationals. Full merged results are below.

Also qualifying for Nationals was senior hurdler Shericka Ward. Ward finished 5th in her 100 meter hurdle heat, in 13.25, and because only the top 3 in each of the three heats automatically qualify, Ward had to sit and watch the two remaining heats to see if she would advance to Nationals on time. Her 13.25 held up and she ended the competition as the 2nd fastest non-auto qualifier.

In other action today so far, Emily Lipari ran in heat 2 of the women's 1500 meters, but was never able to change gears and insert herself into the action up front. Running with what looked to be dead legs, Lipari found herself running in 11th place over the final laps. Unable to employ her usual late-race kick, Lipari finished 11th, in 4:27.35.

In the women's triple jump, Samantha Francis maxed out at 40' 0" , with a three-jump sequence of 40'0" - foul - 38'9". She finished 36th of the 48 competitors in the event.

Men's 1500 Meters
     Name               Yr   Affiliation   Time       Heat(Pl)
 1.  Andrew Bayer       JR   Indiana       3:45.44 Q   1 (1)
 2.  Ryan Hill          JR   NC St.        3:45.62 Q   1 (2)
 3.  Kyle Merber        SR   Columbia      3:45.89 Q   1 (3)
 4.  Johnathan Shawel   SR   Notre Dame    3:46.26 Q   1 (4)
 5.  Michael Hammond    JR   Va Tech       3:46.31 Q   1 (5)
 6.  Erik Berg          JR   Brown         3:46.95 q   1 (6)
 7.  Patrick Todd       JR   Virginia      3:46.96 q   1 (7)
 8.  Chris Fallon       JR   Ohio State    3:47.22     1 (8)
 9.  Chris Walizer      SR   Va Tech       3:47.49     1 (9)
10.  Tom Curr           FR   Butler        3:48.24     1 (10)
11.  Rich Peters        SO   Boston U.     3:48.36 Q   2 (1)
12.  Erik van Ingen     SR   Binghamton    3:48.37 Q   2 (2)
13.  Sam McEntee        SO   Villanova     3:48.73 Q   2 (3)
14.  Trevor Van Ackeren SR   Princeton     3:48.73 Q   2 (4)
15.  Brett Johnson      JR   Virginia      3:48.99 Q   2 (5)
16.  Julian Matthews    JR   Providence    3:49.05     2 (6)
17.  Robby Creese       FR   Penn State    3:49.07     2 (7)
18.  Mark Feigen        JR   Columbia      3:49.45     1 (11)
19.  Jeremy Rae         JR   Notre Dame    3:49.59     2 (8)
20.  Jakub Zivec        SO   Florida St    3:50.00     2 (9)
21.  Eric Speakman      FR   Stony Brook   3:50.38     2 (10)
22.  Marcus Wilkinson   SO   Belmont       3:52.47     2 (11)
23.  Steve Mangan       SO   Dartmouth     3:56.32     2 (12)
DNF  Grant Pollock      SO   Va Tech
.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Sam Ellison Punches Ticket to Des Moines with 1:47.76 PR

The highlight of Day 2 of the NCAA East Regional as far as Villanova fans are concerned was Sam Ellison's PR of 1:47.76 -- good for 3rd place in his 800 meter heat (4th overall among all heats) and an automatic spot at NCAA Nationals in Des Moines. The merged results of the 3 heats are provided below.

A second bit of good news was provided by senior Shericka Ward, who came 2nd in her heat of the 100 meter hurdles, in 13.23. She qualified for tomorrow's decisive NCAA "quarterfinals," where she will attempt to qualify for Nationals.

The other news of the day was all bad.

Christie Verdier finished 7th in her heat of the 400 meters, running 53.94 and out of the competition.

Nicky Akande ended an otherwise brilliant season on a downer, as she cratered badly in her 800 meter heat. She finished 9th, in 2:12.80, well below her capabilities, and was also eliminated.

Also eliminated was Nicoy Hines, who ran 52.61 in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing 7th in his heat.

Sam Yeats initially looked dangerous in the high jump, clearing 5' 5.75" and 5' 7.75" on her first attempts at each height. However, she was stymied at 5' 9.75" in three consecutive attempts and was out of the competition.

Likewise, Alex Wasik cleared 11' 11.75" in the women's pole vault competition, before failing to clear 12' 5.5". She finished 35th in the 48-person field.

Tomorrow will determine if Sam McEntee (1500), Emily Lipari (1500), Shericka Ward (100 hurdles), Samantha Francis (triple jump), Sheila Reid (5000), and Bogdana Mimic (5000) will be joining Sam Ellison on the flight to Des Moines in a week's time.

Men's 800 Meters
    Name              Yr    Affiliation     Time       Heat(Pl)
 1. Aaron Evans       SR    Georgia         1:47.31 Q   1 (1)
 2. Casimir Loxsom    JR    Penn State      1:47.69 Q   2 (1)
 3. Curtis Beach      SO    Duke            1:47.75 Q   1 (2)
 4. Samuel Ellison    SO    Villanova       1:47.76 Q   1 (3)
 5. Howard Shepard    JR    LSU             1:47.87 q   1 (4)
 6. Felix Kitur       SR    VMI             1:47.96 Q   3 (1)
 7. Donte Holmes      SR    Delaware State  1:48.33 Q   3 (2)
 8. Lance Roller      SR    Virginia        1:48.55 Q   3 (3)
 9. Harry McFann      SO    Columbia        1:48.78 Q   2 (2)
10. Darrin Gibson     JR    Florida State   1:48.84 Q   2 (3)
11. Chris Slate       SR    Clemson         1:48.86 q   2 (4)
12. Shawn Roberts     JR    Georgia Tech    1:48.97 q   1 (5)
13. Paris Simmons     JR    NC A&T          1:49.24     1 (6)
14. Dale Dunn         SR    Southern Miss.  1:49.37     2 (5)
15. David Mokone      SO    W. Kentucky     1:49.57     3 (4)
16. Michael Williams  SO    Princeton       1:49.61     2 (6)
17. Brendon Fish      FR    Columbia        1:49.72     3 (5)
18. Louis Gibilisco   SR    Mt St. Mary     1:49.88     2 (7)
19. Fabian Fiege      FR    Memphis         1:49.92     1 (7)
20. Rutger Admirand   FR    Cornell         1:50.00     2 (8)
21. Dan White         SR    Ohio State      1:50.79     1 (8)
22. Tihut Degfae      JR    Virginia Tech   1:51.02     1 (9)
23. Jesse Garn        FR    Binghamton      1:51.60     3 (6)
24. Tyler Cardillo    FR    Florida         1:51.93     3 (7)
25. O'Neal Wanliss    FR    UNC             1:52.02     2 (9)
26. Joe Banyai        JR    Michigan St     1:54.25     3 (8)
27. Patrick Peterson  SO    Sacred Heart    2:00.25     3 (9)

Day 2 Schedule for NCAA East Regional

Here's the schedule for Villanova competitors on Friday, day 2 of the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Florida:

DAY 2 VILLANOVA ATHLETES (Friday, May 25)

11:00 pm    Women's Pole Vault          Alex Wasik

5:00 pm     Women's High Jump           Samantha Yeats

5:10 pm     Women's 100 meter hurdles   Shericka Ward

6:15 pm     Women's 400 meters          Christie Verdier

7:00 pm     Men's 800 meters            Sam Ellison

7:15 pm     Women's 800 meters          Nicky Akande

7:30 pm     Men's 400 meter hurdles     Nicoy Hines

Thursday, May 24, 2012

McEntee & Lipari Advance at NCAA East Region 1500

Sam McEntee and Emily Lipari each won their 1500 meter heat and advanced to Saturday's "quarterfinal" round.


After a painfully slow heat 1 of the men's 1500 -- which went through the 800 in an agonizing 2:26 -- that eliminated Villanova's Rob Denault, McEntee's heat went out much quicker (61 at 400, and 2:04 at 800). McEntee, who finished 4th at NCAA indoors in the mile, sat at the back of the pack until 800 meters then went quickly to the front of the pack. He extended his lead and won the heat in 3:46.77. Brian Tetreault ran in heat 4, which was the fastest of the day (going out in 59.60 and 2:01). Tetreault couldn't extricate himself from the back of the pack, and finished in 9th place, running 3:49.77

On the women's side, both Lipari and Ariann Neutts ran in heat 3 of the women's 1500. Both women ran near the front for first half of the race, but Neutts started fall dropping in place after 800 meters. Lipari ran a typical race for her -- staying in contention (in this case 6th place) until the final 120 meters. She then executed her standard kick and ran past the front pack, winning the heat in the fastest time of the day, 4:21.37. Neutts finished 12th in 4:30.31 and failed to advance. Hopefully Lipari did not spend too much energy in catapulting herself that way, as the next round of the 1500 meters is Saturday night.

Here are the merged results for all heats for both the men and women:
     Name                 Yr   Affiliation     Time        Heat(Pl) 
 1.  Andrew Bayer         JR   Indiana         3:45.53   Q    4 (1)
 2.  Ryan Hill            JR   N Carolina St.  3:45.56   Q    4 (2)
 3.  Tom Curr             FR   Butler          3:46.14   Q    4 (3)
 4.  Grant Pollock        SO   Virginia Tech   3:46.31   Q    4 (4)
 5.  Sam McEntee          SO   Villanova       3:46.37   Q    2 (1)
 6.  Chris Walizer        SR   Virginia Tech   3:46.62   Q    4 (5)
 7.  Erik van Ingen       SR   Binghamton      3:46.75   Q    2 (2)
 8.  Rich Peters          SO   Boston U.       3:46.77   Q    2 (3)
 9.  Brett Johnson        JR   Virginia        3:47.31   Q    2 (4)
10.  Chris Fallon         JR   Ohio State      3:47.47   q    4 (6)
11.  Jakub Zivec          SO   Florida State   3:47.64   Q    2 (5)
12.  Marcus Wilkinson     SO   Belmont         3:47.73   q    4 (7)
13.  Jeremy Rae           JR   Notre Dame      3:47.85   Q    3 (1)
14.  Steve Mangan         SO   Dartmouth       3:47.86   Q    3 (2)
15.  Eric Speakman        FR   Stony Brook     3:47.91   Q    3 (3)
16.  Julian Matthews      JR   Providence      3:47.95   Q    3 (4)
17.  Trevor Van Ackeren   SR   Princeton       3:47.99   Q    3 (5)
18.  Robby Creese         FR   Penn State      3:48.32   q    3 (6)
19.  Patrick Todd         JR   Virginia        3:48.67   q    2 (6)
20.  Daniel Stockberger   SR   Indiana         3:48.77        4 (8)
21.  Alex Taylor          JR   Appalachian St  3:49.13        2 (7)
22.  Josh Nadzam          SR   Kentucky        3:49.45        2 (8)
23.  Isaac Presson        SO   North Carolina  3:49.59        3 (7)
24.  Daniel Everett       FR   Columbia        3:49.67        2 (9)
25.  Brian Tetreault      SR   Villanova       3:49.77        4 (9)
26.  Alexander Rose       SO   Wake Forest     3:49.99        2 (10)
27.  Kevin Cooper         JR   Brown           3:50.17        3 (8)
28.  Kevin Dowd           SO   Virginia Tech   3:50.54        2 (11)
29.  Taylor Gilland       SO   Virginia        3:51.01        3 (9)
30.  Gary Bradbury        SR   Alabama         3:51.47        4 (10)
31.  Kane Grimster        FR   Auburn          3:53.59        4 (11)
32.  Jarod Eick           JR   Miami (Ohio)    3:53.80        2 (12)
33.  Aaron Ramirez        SO   Clemson         3:54.95        3 (10)
34.  John Van Deventer    SR   Yale            3:56.41        4 (12)
35.  Byron Jones          SO   Columbia        3:58.38        3 (11)
36.  Kyle Merber          SR   Columbia        4:05.13   Q    1 (1)
37.  Michael Hammond      JR   Virginia Tech   4:05.30   Q    1 (2)
38.  Johnathan Shawel     SR   Notre Dame      4:05.61   Q    1 (3)
39.  Erik Berg            JR   Brown           4:05.78   Q    1 (4)
40.  Mark Feigen          JR   Columbia        4:05.88   Q    1 (5)
41.  Nick Crits           JR   La Salle        4:05.92        1 (6)
42.  Chris Tyson          SR   Wm and Mary     4:06.35        1 (7)
43.  Lee Gilmer           SR   Furman          4:07.24        1 (8)
44.  Jeremiah Vaughan     SR   Indiana State   4:07.77        1 (9)
45.  Adam Behnke          SR   Columbia        4:07.92        1 (10)
46.  Robert Denault       FR   Villanova       4:07.99        1 (11)
47.  David Forrester      JR   Florida Stat    4:09.77        1 (12)
48.  Michael Cunningham   SR   Penn            4:13.43        3 (12)

     Name                 Yr   Affiliation     Time        Heat(Pl)
 1.  Emily Lipari         SO   Villanova       4:21.37   Q    3 (1)
 2.  Rachel Schneider     JR   Georgetown      4:21.54   Q    3 (2)
 3.  Amanda Winslow       JR   Florida State   4:21.63   Q    3 (3)
 4.  Rebecca Addison      JR   Michigan        4:21.83   Q    1 (1)
 5.  Jillian Smith        SO   Michigan        4:21.87   Q    1 (2)
 6.  Morgane Gay          JR   Virginia        4:21.89   Q    3 (4)
 7.  Monica Adler         SO   Boston U.       4:22.37   Q    3 (5)
 8.  Rebecca Tracy        JR   Notre Dame      4:22.49   Q    1 (3)
 9.  Katrina Coogan       FR   Georgetown      4:23.19   q    3 (6)
10.  Kelsey Duerksen      JR   Indiana         4:23.53   q    3 (7)
11.  Ashley Verplank      SR   North Carolina  4:23.62   Q    1 (4)
12.  Greta Feldman        JR   Princeton       4:23.76   Q    4 (1)
13.  Kristen Findley      JR   Vanderbilt      4:23.86   Q    1 (5)
14.  Lucy Van Dalen       SR   Stony Brook     4:23.97   Q    4 (2)
15.  Brittany Sheffey     SR   Tennessee       4:24.23   Q    4 (3)
16.  Cory McGee           SO   Florida         4:24.31   Q    4 (4)
17.  Rebekka Simko        SO   Penn State      4:24.59   Q    4 (5)
18.  Lauren Borduin       SR   Georgetown      4:24.75   q    1 (6)
19.  Kirsty Legg          JR   Butler          4:24.94   q    3 (8)
20.  Christina Supino     SR   Dartmouth       4:25.20        4 (6)
21.  Linden Hall          FR   Florida State   4:25.45        1 (7)
22.  Agata Strausa        SO   Florida         4:25.59        4 (7)
23.  Allison Letourneau   SR   New Hampshire   4:25.87        1 (8)
24.  Kelley Miller        SR   Miami (Ohio)    4:26.81        4 (8)
25.  Nihal Kayali         JR   Yale            4:27.50        3 (9)
26.  Arianne Raby         SO   Indiana         4:27.78        3 (10)
27.  Violah Lagat         SR   Florida State   4:27.98   Q    2 (1)
28.  Molly Higgins        JR   Princeton       4:28.25        3 (11)
29.  Jess Palacio         SR   Navy            4:28.47        1 (9)
30.  Emily Infeld         JR   Georgetown      4:28.72   Q    2 (2)
31.  Hannah Brooks        SR   Florida State   4:29.00   Q    2 (3)
32.  Jennifer Klugh       SR   Liberty         4:30.13        1 (10)
33.  Heidi Gregson        SR   Iona            4:30.15   Q    2 (4)
34.  Ariann Neutts        JR   Villanova       4:30.31        3 (12)
35.  Alexa Aragon         SO   Notre Dame      4:30.65   Q    2 (5)
36.  Aubree Worden        FR   Florida State   4:31.40        2 (6)
37.  Mandy Perkins        JR   Florida         4:32.65        4 (9)
38.  Alexis Mikaelian     JR   Princeton       4:32.70        2 (7)
39.  Kelly Curran         SO   Notre Dame      4:33.11        4 (10)
40.  Olivia Burne         SO   Stony Brook     4:33.25        4 (11)
41.  Shelby Hayes         SO   Florida         4:33.82        1 (11)
42.  Erin Gillingham      JR   Columbia        4:34.00        2 (8)
43.  Carly Hamilton       FR   Georgia         4:34.06        2 (9)
44.  Carolyn Baskir       FR   Duke            4:35.55        2 (10)
45.  Jessica Parry        SO   Florida State   4:37.80        2 (11)
46.  Hannah Neczypor      FR   Georgetown      4:39.15        4 (12
47.  Katie Harman         JR   James Madison   4:41.04        2 (12)
48.  Arianna Vailas       SO   Dartmouth       4:43.86        1 (12)

Verdier, Akande & Hines Advance at NCAA East Regional


Christie Verdier (left) set a new 400 meter PR tonight at the NCAA East Regional, coming third in her heat of the 400 meters and automatically advancing to the next round. Verdier ran 53.28, the 11th fastest time of the day among the 48 competitors, and broke her previous PR of 53.56 set at the Big East meet three weekend ago.


In the 800, Nicky Akande (right) was sitting pretty in 3rd place on the final straight, but began to tie up and was passed by two runners in the final 10 meters. Akande fell across the finish line (just barely crossing the line) to finish 5th in 2:07.55. Because she was out of the top three finishers in her heat, she had to wait to see if she would qualify on time (the next 9 fastest finishers outside the top three would advance). Her time stood up, and Akande was the 5th fastest non-automatic qualifier, thereby advancing to the next round on Friday.


In the men's 400 meter hurdles, junior Nicoy Hines (left) finished a strong 3rd in his heat, running 52.04, and thereby automatically advanced to the next round (which takes place Friday night).

In other action, long jumper Elbert Maxwell leaped 22' 9.75" to finish 37th among the 48 competitors. Freshman Megan Venables contested the 10,000 meters in the final event of Day 1 of the Regional. She came home 30th out of 47 competitors, in 36:15.73. Finally, in the women's javelin, freshman Jamie Klein threw 132' 7" and finished 36th in the field of 47 competitors.

Ellison Up, FitzSimons Out in NCAA East Regional 800


Sam Ellison took care of business in heat 6 of the preliminary round of the East Regional 800 meter competition. Ellison ran 1:49.65 to win his heat and advance to the next round of competition tomorrow. Chris FitzSimons ran 1:50.90 in heat 1, finishing in 6th place. Only the top three finishers in each of the 6 heats was guaranteed a spot in the next round, with the next 9 fastest times also advancing. FitzSimons had to sit and watch the remaining 5 heats to determine his fate. He was still in the competition through 5 heats, but was eliminated when the 4th and 5th runners in heat 6 came in faster than his 1:50.90.









Here are the merged results of the 6 heats:

     Name               Yr      Affiliation     Time        Heat (pl)
 1.  Lance Roller       SR      Virginia        1:48.69   Q   3 (1)
 2.  Jesse Garn         FR      Binghamton      1:48.85   Q   3 (2)
 3.  Donte Holmes       SR      Delaware State  1:48.89   Q   3 (3)
 4.  Tyler Cardillo     FR      Florida         1:49.30   q   3 (4)
 5.  Darrin Gibson      JR      Florida State   1:49.50   Q   5 (1)
 6.  Shawn Roberts      JR      Georgia Tech    1:49.51   Q   1 (1)
 7.  Michael Williams   SO      Princeton       1:49.56       1 (2)
 8.  Paris Simmons      JR      NC A&T          1:49.58   Q   5 (2)
 9.  Chris Slate        SR      Clemson         1:49.62   Q   5 (3)
10.  Samuel Ellison     SO      Villanova       1:49.65   Q   6 (1)
11.  Tihut Degfae       JR      Virginia Tech   1:49.67   Q   1 (3)
12.  Aaron Evans        SR      Georgia         1:49.67   Q   6 (2)
13.  Curtis Beach       SO      Duke            1:49.70   Q   6 (3)
14.  O'Neal Wanliss     FR      North Carolina  1:49.75   q   1 (4)
15.  Casimir Loxsom     JR      Penn State      1:50.01   Q   2 (1)
16.  Howard Shepard     JR      LSU             1:50.09   q   6 (4)
17.  Dan White          SR      Ohio State      1:50.12   q   5 (4)
18.  Harry McFann       SO      Columbia        1:50.14   Q   2 (2)
19.  Rutger Admirand    FR      Cornell         1:50.20   Q   2 (3)
20.  Louis Gibilisco    SR      Mount St. Mary  1:50.21   q   1 (5)
21.  Brendon Fish       FR      Columbia        1:50.22   q   2 (4)
22.  Joe Banyai         JR      Michigan State  1:50.36   q   3 (5)
23.  Dale Dunn          SR      Southern Miss.  1:50.49   q   3 (6)
24.  Fabian Fiege       FR      Memphis         1:50.58   q   6 (5)
25.  Bob Vanderham      SR      UNC-Wilmington  1:50.74       2 (5)
26.  Chris FitzSimons   SO      Villanova       1:50.90       1 (6)
27.  Jakub Trzasalski   SO      East Carolina   1:51.02       5 (5)
28.  Anthony Kostelac   SO      Virginia        1:51.08       6 (6)
29.  Felix Kitur        SR      VMI             1:51.19   Q   4 (1)
30.  John Mitchell      JR      Florida         1:51.19       2 (6)
31.  David Mokone       SO      W. Kentucky     1:51.20   Q   4 (2)
32.  Will Weinlandt     SO      Cornell         1:51.21       2 (7)
33.  Patrick Peterson   SO      Sacred Heart    1:51.26   Q   4 (3)
34.  Stephen Humes      SR      Michigan State  1:51.44       4 (4)
35.  Nathan Hendershot  SO      Clemson         1:51.83       5 (6)
36.  Kevin Griffith     SO      Purdue          1:51.94       6 (7)
37.  Martin Dally       SO      Virginia Tech   1:52.05       2 (8)
38.  Darwin Price       SR      Grambling       1:52.09       4 (5)
39.  Aaron Ramirez      SO      Clemson         1:52.56       1 (7)
40.  Zavior Brown       JR      Maryland-ES     1:52.69       4 (6)
41.  Brian Fulton       SR      Penn            1:53.08       4 (7)
42.  Vincent Brown      JR      Norfolk State   1:53.08       6 (8)
43.  James Thurn        SR      LSU             1:53.40       5 (7)
44.  Joshua Schmidt     SR      Kent State      1:53.44       3 (7)
45.  Owen Dawson        SR      Penn State      1:53.63       4 (8)
46.  Connor Claflin     FR      Columbia        1:54.61       1 (8)
47.  Rick Scheff        SR      Georgia Tech    1:54.76       5 (8)
DNF  Michael Rutherford SR      Cincinnati 

Day 1 Schedule for NCAA East Regional


The NCAA East Regional kicks off today in Jacksonville, Florida. Thirteen of Villanova's 19 athletes at the Regional are in action on Day 1. Here a listing of their schedules and events:

DAY 1 VILLANOVA ATHLETES (Thursday, May 24)

1:00 pm     Men's Long Jump             Elbert Maxwell

4:30 pm     Men's 400 meter hurdles     Nicoy Hines

4:30 pm     Women's Javelin             Jamie Klein

5:30 pm     Men's 1500 meters           Sam McEntee, Rob Denault, 
                                        Brian Tetreault

6:00 pm     Women's 1500 meters         Emily Lipari, Ariann Neutts

7:45 pm     Women's 400 meters          Christie Verdier

8:10 pm     Men's 800 meters            Chris FitzSimons, Sam Ellison

8:35 pm     Women's 800 meters          Nicky Akande

9:40 pm     Women's 10,000 meters       Megan Venables

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Piccirillo Holds #1 Seed at 800 and 1600 at PA State Meet

The Pennsylvania state meet is two days away and Villanova's 2012 signee Angel Piccirillo enters the competition as the state's #1 seed at both the 800 meters (2:12.48) and the 1600 meters (4:48.28). She has the #2 time in the USA in the mile this year. Here's a snippet from PennLive.com's preview by Jay Rtoz of the Patriot-News:

The queen of middle distances ... we think.

Every couple of years, a distance runner comes out of Pennsylvania destined for bigger things. The 2012 model is Angel Piccirillo.

She’s a senior at Homer Center High School, a few miles outside Indiana in District 6. And she’s such a fixture at Shippensburg, longtime PA announcer Bob Schellenberg probably intones “AN-gel Pic-ah-RIL-lo” unconsciously by now.

Piccirillo’s honors will fill several pages before she arrives at Villanova University in the fall. She’s won the last two Class AA 1600-meter golds. She’s been the state AA cross-country champ the last two years. She finished second in the mile at the Penn Relays.

Piccirillo is the top seed in two events this weekend — the AA 800 and 1600 meters. Her seed time of 4:48.28 in the 1600 is more than eight seconds faster than that of Elk County Catholic sophomore Kennedy Weisner.

But the 800 — that’s where it gets a little dicey. Not only is Weisner just .11 seconds behind Piccirillo’s 2:12.48 in the seed times, but both of them will have to get past the defending champion in the event, Boiling Springs senior Lillie Brown. Brown took the state by storm last year with her winning 2:13.78.

Joe Manion ('61), Team Captain & Hall of Famer, R.I.P.

Ron Raemore, Joe Manion, Paul Drayton, Frank Budd

Joe Manion, a stalwart of the short relays for Jumbo Elliott in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died yesterday at his home in West Chester, PA. Manion was a team captain while at Villanova and won four Penn Relays championships: as part of three consecutive mile relays in 1959, 1960, and 1961, and another in the 1961 880 yard relay. He is a member of the Villanova athletics Hall of Fame and received the Villanova Alumni Medal for outstanding service to the university's alumni association. Below is his obituary as it appears in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. The Villanova track and field community offers condolences to his family.

JOSEPH J. MANION, age 72, of West Chester, PA, formerly of Media, PA, died peacefully on May 22, 2012 at his home.

Survived by his wife of fifty years, Dolores Westhoff Manion, his eight children: Katie, Beth, Joe, Matt, Amy, John, Tricia and Paul, and their spouses: Mark Jones, Jacinto Oliver, Mary Eileen Rogers, Kerri Dougherty, Tom Swift, Rose Jagielo, Dan Cellucci and Nicole Melchiorre, and 26 grandchildren. Also survived by his sister, Jane Kazunas and his mother-in-law, Regina Westhoff. Born and raised in St. Barnabas parish, Joe graduated from West Catholic Boys High School in 1957 and Villanova University in 1961. He was captain of the track team at West Catholic and Villanova - where he ran for the legendary Jumbo Elliott - and is in the Hall of Fame for both schools.

Viewing on Thursday evening from 6 to 9 P.M. at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. Mass of Christian Burial on Friday 10:30 A.M. at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, 800 E. Lancaster Ave. Villanova, PA. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Parkinsons Council Inc., 111 Presidential Blvd. #250, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-1023 or the Villanova University Track Program. Arrangements: RIGBY HARTING & HAGAN FUNERAL HOME, 15 E. Fourth Street, Media, PA.

Forty Philly-Based Athletes at NCAA East Regional
Villanova Group the Largest at 19

Philly Track and Field Athletes Headed To NCAA Eastern Regional Meet
Glenn Papazian
Philly College Sports

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 5/22/2012 - The Philadelphia Division I schools will be well represented at the NCAA Eastern Regional Track and Field meet scheduled for May 24 – 26. Forty athletes from the local schools will compete in the preliminaries starting on Thursday, May 24. Villanova will send the largest contingent to the meet as 19 athletes have qualified, seven men and 12 women to Jacksonville, FL. Penn will send nine to the Jacksonville site (five women and four men). LaSalle will have three men and two women athletes representing the school while Saint Joseph’s will send one distance runner to Florida. Six Temple Owls will travel to the preliminaries on the campus of North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, NC sending four men and two women athletes.

A summary of the competing athletes is below.

Villanova Women

The Wildcats will have 12 athletes competing in 12 events led by defending national champion Sheila Reid running in the 5000 meters. Bogdana Mimic (left) will also participate the 5000 meters. Both have qualified as All-American in the race. Sprinter Sherika Ward will run in the 100 meter hurdles. In the middle distance events Nicky Akande will run in the 800 meters, while Emily Lipari and Ariann Neutts will run in the 1500 meters. Sprinter Christie Verdier is a qualifier in the 400 meters. Running in the 10,000 meters will be freshman Megan Venables. In field events Villanova will be represented by Samantha Francis in the triple jump and Samantha Yeats in the high jump. Jamie Klein will compete in the javelin, and Alexandra Wasik the pole vault.

Villanova Men

Samuel McEntee leads a group of seven Villanova athletes to qualify. McEntee will be joined by Brian Tetreault and Rob Denault in the 1500 meters. Samuel Ellison (right) and Chris FitzSimons will run for the Wildcats in the 800 meters. Sprinter Nicoy Hines will run the 400 meter hurdles. In the field Elbert Maxwell will compete in the long jump.

Penn Women

The Red and Blue will have three women athletes making their second straight appearance. Paige Madison runs in the 400 meters, Victoria Strickland is in the 800 meter event, and Morgan Wheeler is in the javelin. Jillian Hart is making her initial NCAA appearance in the pole vault. Kristen Judge will compete in the high jump.

Penn Men

The Quaker contingent will be led by Hepatagonal High Jump Champions Maalik Reynolds. This will be his second outdoor appearance. Reynolds finished seventh last year, and enters as the 4 seed. Making his second appearance in the 800 is Brian Fulton. Ryan Cunningham will run the 1500 meter race. Jake Brenza also goes to the NCAA Regions for the first time in the shot put.

Temple Men

Travis Mahoney will run the Steeplechase. He is the defending Atlantic 10 champion in this event. In field events Darryl McDuffie will take part in the high jump while Gabe Pickett and Derek Holland will compete in the triple jump. Pickett is the reigning Atlantic 10 champion.

Temple Women

School record holder and Atlantic 10 champion Margo Britton will represent Temple in the shot put. She will also hope to advance to the NCAA finals in the discus. Jade Wilson will run in the 400 meter hurdles.

LaSalle Men

Three Explorers qualified on the men’s meet. Nick Crits will run in the 1500 meters. A pair of runners Alfredo Santana and Dave Hausherr will complete in the 10,000 meter run.

LaSalle Women

Running the 10,000 meters will be Megan McGlinchey who won the Atlantic 10 title in this event. Megan Lutz will compete in the same race.

Saint Joseph’s Men

Kevin McDonnell is set to compete in the 10,000 meter for the second time in his career.

Carrie Tollefson: One Last Shot to Qualify for Trials

In this story from today's Duluth's News Tribune, Carrie talks about the 2004 Olympic Trials (where she competed at both the 5000 -- failing to qualify for the Olympics -- and the 1500, which she won. On the comeback trail, Tollefson has so far failed to attain the US Olympic Trials "B" standard of 15:50, but she says she'll likely have one more shot to do so: at the Portland Track Classic next weekend.


Olympian Carrie Tollefson schools youngsters on fitness
By: Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune
May 23, 2012

Carrie Tollefson’s message to Duluth middle school students Tuesday was perseverance, and the U.S. Olympic track runner had plenty of examples to illustrate her point.

The best was about recovering from heartbreak during the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. She expected to qualify for the Summer Games in Greece by placing in the top three of the 5,000-meter event, but she finished sixth. Yet she also was entered at 1,500 meters and, despite 100-degree temperatures on the track, won the race.

About 200 students each at Morgan Park and Woodland saw video of the victory in Sacramento, Calif., and an energized Tollefson, who grew up in Dawson, Minn., earned applause for the effort.

“You are not going to win every race, you are going to face bumps and bruises along the way, but don’t be discouraged,” she said. “The idea is to find a sport and exercise every day. Move your body every day.”

Grandma’s Marathon has brought athletes to Duluth in recent years to spread the word during Fit-n-Fun assemblies. Other speakers have included Duluthian Kara Goucher, Dick Beardsley, Bill Rodgers and Suzy Favor Hamilton, all acclaimed runners.

Tollefson, 35, a St. Paul resident and mother of a 2-year-old girl, is best known as Minnesota’s only five-time high school girls cross country champion (1990-94). She went on to win five NCAA Division I cross country and track titles at Villanova University and continues to race, while working in television and radio commentary for road racing and track.

There are rumors she retired as a professional runner, but instead she’s persevering. To get to next month’s 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at 5,000 meters, she must run a qualifying race in 15 minutes, 50 seconds or faster. She tried in April in Stanford, Calif., in her first serious race in three years, and missed. She tried again last Friday, in Los Angeles, leaving her husband and daughter at home, and spending money on airfare, a rental car and hotel room (she no longer receives sponsor money from Adidas).

About 75 seconds into the race, a runner stepped on the back of Tollefson’s left shoe, which came off. By the time she tried to unknot the laces, the other runners had pulled away and her night was over.

“I have aspirations of having more children and being a great broadcaster, but I’m not ready to give up racing,” said Tollefson. “It was hard to swallow, to travel so far and have my hopes end in less than two minutes. There were some tears shed.

“But I try to practice what I preach. I’m a runner and I have to give it a go. I have to try. Realistically, my racing could last five more years or one month.”

Although losing a shoe during a track race is rare, it has happened to Tollefson three times. The first was in a 1,500-meter race in Finland in 2004 and the second in a much-publicized 1,500 at the 2005 Steve Prefontaine Classic. In Eugene, with two laps to go, runners starting tumbling like dominoes, according to the Eugene Register-Guard, with five having to leave the race, including Tollefson.

The best-known losing-a-shoe race featured Proctor’s Garry Bjorklund at 10,000 meters in the 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials, also in Eugene. His left foot was accidently stepped on halfway through the 6.2 miles, he kicked off the shoe and finished in an adrenaline-fueled rush, placing third and advancing to the Summer Games in Montreal, Quebec.

Tollefson says she may have one more qualifying chance at the Portland (Ore.) Track Classic on June 8-9. The U.S. Olympic Trials 5,000 qualifying races are June 25.

Tollefson will be in Duluth on June 16 to provide radio commentary on the U.S. Half Marathon Championships to be held in conjunction with Grandma’s Marathon.


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Villanova Men's NCAA 1500 Contingent is Three Deep


Villanova's Brian Tetreault, Rob Denault, and Sam McEntee are on their way to Florida for the NCAA East Regional 1500 meter competition. Here are the heat sheets for their races:

Event 5  Men 1500 Meter Run
===========================================================================
 4 Heats.  Advance top 5 from each ht. plus next 4 times to qtr.
 Advance top 5 from each qtr. plus next best 2 times to Drake
    American:  3:29.30  8/28/2005   Bernard Lagat, Nike
College Best:  3:35.30  6/6/1981    Sydney Maree, Villanova
   NCAA Meet:  3:35.30  6/6/1981    Sydney Maree, Villanova
     Name                        Year School                 Seed           
===========================================================================
Heat 1  Prelims
  1  Mark Feigen                   JR Columbia            3:45.01 
  2  Robert Denault                FR Villanova           3:45.89 
  3  Michael Hammond               JR Virginia Tech       3:39.22 
  4  Nick Crits                    JR La Salle            3:43.99 
  5  Jeremiah Vaughan              SR Indiana State       3:45.23 
  6  Erik Berg                     JR Brown               3:44.57 
  7  David Forrester               JR Florida State       3:41.44 
  8  Kyle Merber                   SR Columbia            3:42.49 
  9  Lee Gilmer                    SR Furman              3:46.26 
 10  Johnathan Shawel              SR Notre Dame          3:45.65 
 11  Adam Behnke                   SR Columbia            3:44.74 
 12  Chris Tyson                   SR William & Mary      3:43.12 
Heat 2  Prelims
  1  Brett Johnson                 JR Virginia            3:44.59 
  2  Alex Taylor                   JR Appalachian St      3:42.29 
  3  Patrick Todd                  JR Virginia            3:41.51 
  4  Alexander Rose                SO Wake Forest         3:45.89 
  5  Sam McEntee                   SO Villanova           3:45.15 
  6  Kevin Dowd                    SO Virginia Tech       3:45.79 
  7  Josh Nadzam                   SR Kentucky            3:45.10 
  8  Rich Peters                   SO Boston U.           3:43.28 
  9  Daniel Everett                FR Columbia            3:43.80 
 10  Jakub Zivec                   SO Florida State       3:44.65 
 11  Erik van Ingen                SR Binghamton          3:38.06 
 12                                                               
Heat 3  Prelims
  1  Byron Jones                   SO Columbia            3:45.94 
  2  Eric Speakman                 FR Stony Brook         3:42.94 
  3  Jeremy Rae                    JR Notre Dame          3:40.93 
  4  Julian Matthews               JR Providence          3:44.45 
  5  Steve Mangan                  SO Dartmouth           3:45.36 
  6  Robby Creese                  FR Penn State          3:42.87 
  7  Isaac Presson                 SO North Carolina      3:40.16 
  8  Aaron Ramirez                 SO Clemson             3:44.97 
  9  Michael Cunningham            SR Penn                3:45.93 
 10  Kevin Cooper                  JR Brown               3:44.92 
 11  Taylor Gilland                SO Virginia            3:45.35 
 12  Trevor Van Ackeren            SR Princeton           3:44.26 
Heat 4  Prelims
  1  Ryan Hill                     JR N.C. State          3:39.58 
  2  Tom Curr                      FR Butler              3:45.98 
  3  Grant Pollock                 SO Virginia Tech       3:44.79 
  4  John Van Deventer             SR Yale                3:45.01 
  5  Chris Walizer                 SR Virginia Tech       3:42.61 
  6  Kane Grimster                 FR Auburn              3:45.48 
  7  Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson      SO Belmont             3:45.92 
  8  Andrew Bayer                  JR Indiana             3:41.17 
  9  Gary Bradbury                 SR Alabama             3:44.51 
 10  Brian Tetreault               SR Villanova           3:45.25 
 11  Daniel Stockberger            SR Indiana             3:42.98 
 12  Chris Fallon                  JR Ohio State          3:44.20 

Monday, May 21, 2012

Adrian Blincoe on Tap for Olso 3000 Thursday

On the verge of being named to his second New Zealand Olympic team at 5000 meters, Adrian Blincoe will contest the 3000 meters at the Hyunday Grand Prix in Oslo, Norway on Thursday. Blincoe was the NCAA indoor champion over that distance in 2002 and was runner up to Alistair Cragg in the same event the following year. Blincoe holds a 7:46.38 PR in the 3000, set at Rieti in August 2010. Here is the start list for Blincoe's heat:

Heat: A
166  (1) Sindre Buraas NOR
99   (2) Ferdinand Kvam Edman NOR
168  (3) Sondre Nordstad Moen NOR
97   (4) Erik Senorski NOR
218  (5) Erik Johansson SWE
230  (6) Kalle Johansson SWE
39   (7) Nick McCormack GBR
189  (8) Adrian Blincoe NZ
32   (9) Jukka Keskisalo FIN
128 (10) Johannes Alnes NOR
152 (11) Morten Velde NOR
88  (12) Bjørnar Ustad Kristensen NOR
105 (13) Hans Kristian Fløystad NOR
84  (14) Audun Nordtveit NOR
82  (15) Asbjørn Ellefsen Persen NOR
216 (17) Elmar Engholm SWE
44  (18) Rickie Stevenson GBR
86  (19) Awefork Genale NOR
36  (20) Niklas Sandells FIN
238 (21) Narcedinne Hallil SWE
187 (22) Ørjan Grønnevig NOR
204 (23) Albin Johansson SWE
66  (24) Festus Nzimbi KEN

Blincoe on Brink of Being Named to 2012 Kiwi Olympic Team

Blincoe in running for spot at London games
MARC HINTON
Stuff.co.nz
May 21, 2012

United States-based distance runner Adrian Blincoe may have sealed his spot at the London Olympics with a creditable 5000m performance in California at the weekend.

Blincoe ran a more-than-respectable 13min 23.73s as he finished fifth in an international meet at Occidental College. The race was won by Somalian-born Brit Mo Farah in 13:12.87.

Blincoe's time, said Athletics NZ high-performance director Scott Goodman, should go close to seeing the Kiwi officially added to the New Zealand track and field team for London this week. It would be his second Olympics, after he competed in Beijing in 2008.

"We'd be pretty confident that would see him meet the proof of current form requirement, but that will be the selectors' call."

Blincoe met the Olympic A standard for the 5000m last year, but was required to confirm his form before being officially added to the Kiwi squad for London. He has a best for the distance of 13:10, which is also the New Zealand record.

The two Kiwi 1500m hopefuls Zane Robertson and Hamish Carson both ran under 3:40 at the weekend. "They were good times, but not quite what they need," said Goodman.

T&F News Doesn't Like Olympic Trials Odds for Bobby Curtis

Track and Field News, the "bible" since 1948, has just released its latest US Olympic Trials form chart, and Bobby Curtis is predicted to finish out of the money in his quest to make the 2012 London team. The experts there rank him # 10 in the US (down from # 4 at last look), with the introduction of Chris Derrick and Dathan Ritzenhein into the rankings at the # 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Ben True (PR 27:41.17), who headed Curtis in a road 5K recently, jumped ahead of Curtis, as did Brent Vaughn (27:40.21), Brian Olinger (27:50.58) and Tim Nelson (27:28.19). So, Curtis has his doubters, which should provide plenty of motivation for the 27:24.67 man.

Some of this strike us as ludicrous (especially the placing of Olinger, True, and Vaughn ahead of Curtis, despite their PRs that are 26, 17, and 16 seconds slower, respectively). Admittedly, Curtis has not run a track 10,000 meter race this season, seeking to peak at the Trials, but then again neither has Tim Nelson, who jumped Curtis on the list despite having finished behind Curtis each time they've jointly contested that distance. What next, Kevin Castille? He's had a great spring. One hopes that Curtis is sufficiently motivated by the apparent lack of faith in him on the part of the experts at T&F News to put these people in their place.

10,000 METERS

Rank    Name             Sponsor         Prev
1.   Galen Rupp          (Nike)          1
2.   Matt Tegenkamp      (Oregon TC)     2
3.   Chris Derrick       (Stanford)      nr
4.   Dathan Ritzenhein   (Nike)          nr
5.   Brent Vaughn        (Nike)          8
6.   Scott Bauhs         (Mammoth TC)    3
7.   Ben True            (Saucony)       7
8.   Brian Olinger       (Reebok)        8
9.   Tim Nelson          (Nike)          5
10.  Bobby Curtis        (Reebok)        4
10.  Aaron Braun         (Adidas)        7
11.  Ryan Vail           (Brooks)        6
12.  Bobby Mack          (unattached)   10
13.  James Strang        (unattached)    9
14.  Josh Simpson        (ASATF)         nr
15.  Ed Moran            (Nike)         10 

Mathew Mildenhall is Villanova Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year



Maggie Mergen, Mathew Mildenhall Named Senior Student-Athletes of the Year

Villanova honored its graduating student-athletes at annual banquet on Thursday evening

Excellent video highlighting Mathew Mildenhall's accomplishments is HERE.


VILLANOVA, Pa. - It was a special evening of recognition at the annual Senior Student-Athlete Banquet on Thursday evening at the Connelly Center, where the Athletics Department celebrated the accomplishments of its graduating senior student-athletes. The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the Male and Female Senior Student-Athletes of the Year, with this year's awards going to volleyball player Maggie Mergen and men's cross country and track runner Mathew Mildenhall.

Mergen is a two-time All-BIG EAST first team selection and earned second team honors in her sophomore year. She consistently led the Wildcats in hitting percentage for three consecutive seasons and holds a 3.6 GPA in the Villanova School of Business with a major in management. Mergen has been accepted into the Peace Corps, but will defer for one year and begin her graduate degree at American University.

This season, Mergen tallied her 1,000th career kill in Villanova's second match of the season. She recorded 19 matches with double figure kills and finishes her Villanova career ranked eighth in kills with 1,298. Mergen is also Villanova's all-time leader in hitting percentage with a stellar .297. As a junior, she was named to the AVCA All-Northeast Region honorable mention squad.

Mergen is a four-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star and was named to the 2010 Philadelphia All-Area team.

Mildenhall is a two-time All-American, three-time BIG EAST individual champion and a nine-time All-BIG EAST performer for the Wildcats while carrying a 3.57 cumulative grade-point average as a Marketing major in the Villanova School of Business. He will graduate this weekend but has an additional year of athletic eligibility and plans to return to the cross country team next fall when he begins graduate studies.

During the past cross country season Mildenhall helped lead Villanova to the team title at the BIG EAST Championships for the first time in 10 years. He earned All-BIG EAST and All-Mid Atlantic Region accolades, marking the third straight season he has achieved both distinctions. In addition to his success on the course Mildenhall also excelled academically and earned a 4.0 GPA for the Fall 2011 semester. That came despite taking his heaviest semester course load since beginning his studies at Villanova. Thanks in part to Mildenhall the men's cross country team tallied the highest GPA for the semester out of any of the Wildcats sports programs. He previously was an All-American during the 2009 campaign.

In track competition Mildenhall is a two-time BIG EAST individual champion and a five-time All-BIG EAST performer during the indoor season. He was part of the winning distance medley relay squad in 2010 and a year later won the title in the 3000 meters, an event he has garnered All-BIG EAST honors in three times. Mildenhall also anchored the DMR squad to an All-American performance at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships. Last spring he also earned All-BIG EAST honors in the 5000 meters.

Academically, Mildenhall is a four-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star and in 2010 was named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team for cross country.

Each year the Male and Female Senior Student-Athlete of the Year awards are given to a senior who has excelled in both athletics and academics in addition to making a positive impact through community service. The winner must have at least a 3.2 grade-point average in addition to being a significant contributor to his/her team.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Adrian Blincoe Comes 5th in OXY HP 5000 in 13:23.73

Villanova assistant coach and former NCAA champion over 3000 meters Adrian Blincoe finished 5th in a loaded 5000 meter race at the OXY High Performance meet in Los Angeles. While his time of 13:23.73 in this race was outside the Olympic "A" standard (13:20.00), Blincoe already has the "A" standard in his pocket by virtue of his 13:18.27 run at Barcelona last year. From the perspective of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Blincoe is expected to show fitness before being named to the Olympic team, and this 13:23.73 certainly accomplishes that task.













Event 8  Men 5000 Meter Run
===============================================================
    Name                    Year Team                    Finals
===============================================================
Finals                                                         
  1 Mo Farah                     Nike O T C            13:12.87
  2 Juan Luis Barrios            Nike                  13:13.54
  3 Sam Chelanga                 Nike O T C            13:14.05
  4 Dathan Ritzenhein            Nike O T C            13:14.72
  5 Adrian Blincoe               New Balance           13:23.73
  6 Rory Fraser                  UK Athletics          13:27.87
  7 Scott Bauhs                  Mammoth TC            13:28.40
  8 Elliott Heath                Unattached            13:28.65
  9 Brandon Bethke               Michigan Elite        13:29.26
 10 Bolota Asmerom               Unattached            13:30.33
 11 Ian Dobson                   Oregon TC             13:30.70
 12 Jacob Riley                  Unattached            13:32.82
 13 Tony Okello                  Santa Monica TC       13:33.19
 14 Robert Cheseret              U S Army              13:37.02
 15 Forest Braden                Unattached            13:42.14
 16 Sean Houseworth              Falcon Dst Prjct      13:46.73
 17 Lane Werley                  Unattached            13:58.81
 18 Ruben Sanca                  Cape Verde            14:26.49
 19 Jeremy Johnson               Brooks                14:36.27
 -- Matt Tegenkamp               Nike O T C                 DNF
 -- Josphat Boit                 Mammoth TC                 DNF

Friday, May 18, 2012

Nicole Schappert Gets Big PR and Olympic "B" at OXY HP
Marina Muncan Just Outside Olympic "B"


Former Villanova All-American Nicole Schappert continued her excellent 2012 outdoor season with a monster 5-second PR over 1500 meters tonight at the OXY High Performance meet in Los Angeles. Nicole ran 4:07.79 in her heat, a full 5+ seconds faster than her recently-established 1500 PR of 4:12.95 set last month. Her time easily assured her of an automatic qualifier for the US Olympic Trials (where the AQ is 4:12.93), and surpassed the Olympic "B" standard of 4:08.90. She fell just short of achieving the Olympic "A" standard of 4:06.00. Overall, an excellent race for for the former Wildcat.

Marina Muncan ran in the same heat, and came 7th in 4:09.06, just one-sixth of a second outside the Olympic "B" standard. Its the fastest time achieved by Muncan outdoors since June 2008, when she ran 4:08.18. Her all-time 1500 meter PR is 4:08.02 (2007), so her race tonight was only 1 second off that career best. Still, Muncan, who is the Serbian national record holder at 1500 meters and the mile, was in search of an Olympic standard in the hopes of punching her ticket to London. The race shows her to be very fit and bodes well for attaining the standard in a subsequent race.

Event 5  Women 1500 Meter Run
===============================================================
    Name                    Year Team                    Finals
===============================================================
Section  1                                                     
  1 Gabriele Anderson            Brooks                 4:06.46
  2 Morgan Uceny                 adidas                 4:06.52
  3 Katie Mackey                 Brooks                 4:06.67
  4 Hilary Stellingwerff         Speed River TC         4:07.64
  5 Nicole Schappert             New York AC            4:07.79
  6 Brie Felnagle                adidas                 4:08.80
  7 Marina Muncan                New Balance            4:09.06
  8 Elizabeth Maloy              New Balance            4:09.64
  9 Treniere Moser               Nike                   4:10.79
 10 Lea Wallace                  Nike                   4:12.87

Nova 2012 Recruit Caitlin Bungo on Shelf with Stress Fracture

BUNGO OUT

Defending Class AA 800 champion Caitlin Bungo of Sewickley Academy qualified for this year's championships in the mile and two mile. But she spent the afternoon at Baldwin High School in a lounge chair.

Bungo suffered a stress fracture in her left leg that will take six weeks to heal. That means not chance to run at the PIAA championships, either.

Bungo won the WPIAL Class AA cross country title in the fall -- her first year of cross country -- and will attend Villanova to run track.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Koons 5th at USA 1 Mile Road Championship

Here are the results from tonight's race in Minneapolis. Frances Koons came 5th, in 4:40.5. Heather Kampf made a strong move over the final 300 meters and no one was able to cover it. She won by almost 3 seconds.

Championship Mile - Female

===== ================== === ================= ======= =====
Place Name               Age City              Time    Purse      
===== ================== === ================= ======= =====
 1.   Heather Kampf      25  Minneapolis, MN   4:36.9  $4000
 2.   Alisha Williams    30  Colo Springs, CO  4:39.6  $2500
 3.   Danielle Tauro     23  Manahawkin, NJ    4:40.0  $1500 
 4.   Kellyn Johnson     25  Flagstaff, AZ     4:40.2   $800 
 5.   Frances Koons      26  Annandale, NJ     4:40.5   $500 
 6.   Meghan Peyton      26  Richfield, MN     4:41.1   $325
 7.   Laura Thweatt      23  Boulder, CO       4:42.0   $150
 8.   Tara Erdmann       22  Los Angeles, CA   4:42.9   $100 
 9.   Mason Cathey       30  Indianapolis, IN  4:46.1    $75 
10.   Stephanie Pezzullo 29  Charlotte, NC     4:47.3    $50
11.   Gwen Jorgensen     26  St Paul, MN       4:49.9 
12.   Amy Van Alstine    24  Flagstaff, AZ     4:52.3 
13.   Nicole Blood       24  Annandale, NJ     5:12.6


Frances Koons Seeks USA 1 Mile Road Title


An eight-time All American while at Villanova, Frances Koons is in Minneapolis tonight competing for the USA 1 Mile Road Championship. Here is the list of competitors in the race. As can be seen, Koons owns the second-fastest mile PR in the field (4:31.5) and could be competitive for a top finish.

The race is being live webcast tonight at 7:45 pm Central Time and is available HERE.

ATHLETE LIST:  Women

#  Name                           Personal Best
1.  Heather Kampf................ 4:30.95
2.  Alisha Williams.............. 4:37
3.  Mason Cathey................. 4:39.55
4.  Laura Thweatt ............... 4:41.93*
5.  Nicole Blood................. 4:39.23*
6.  Meghan Peyton ............... 4:40.5
7.  Kellyn Johnson .............. 4:34.41
8.  Danielle Tauro .............. 4:38.71
10. Tara Erdman ................. 4:46.18
13. Frances Koons ............... 4:31.5
14. Gwen Jorgensen .............. 4:39.43
15. Stephanie Pezzullo .......... 4:49.76
16. Amy Van Alstine ............. 4:40.13*
17. Elizabeth Yetzer ............ 4:43.12

The prize money structure is as follows:
USA Men’s & Women’s 1 Mile Road Championship*

Place Amount
1     $4,000
2     $2,500
3     $1,500
4       $800
5       $500
6       $325
7       $150
8       $100
9        $75
10       $50

Villanova Sends 19 Athletes to NCAA East Regional

Seven men and twelve women will represent Villanova at the 2012 NCAA Track and Field East Regional, to take place at the University of North Florida, May 24-26. Because of the meet schedule and her participation at the Canadian Olympic Trials, Sheila Reid will not attempt to repeat the historic 1500/5000 double she won in 2011, but will concentrate this year solely on the 5000 meters.

The Villanova athletes who will seek to springboard through the Regional and get to Nationals are listed be listed below. For the complete list of accepted entries, click HERE.

M E N

800 meters
Chris FitzSimons
Sam Ellison

1500 meters
Sam McEntee
Brian Tetreault
Rob Denault

400 meter hurdles
Nicoy Hines

Long Jump
Elbert Maxwell


W O M E N

400 meters
Christie Verdier

800 meters
Nicky Akande

1500 meters
Emily Lipari
Ariann Neutts

5000 meters
Sheila Reid (defending NCAA champion)
Bogdana Mimic

10,000 meters
Megan Venables

100 meter hurdles
Shericka Ward

High Jump
Samantha Yeats

Pole Vault
Alex Wasik

Triple Jump
Samantha Francis

Javelin
Jamie Klein

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Recruits Lampron & Piccirillo Showcased in Adidas Dream Mile

Lampron, Malone, Wilson, Efraimson key in mile; Bozmans, Davis-White in 100

NEW YORK CITY (May 16, 2012)—Josh Lampron and Ben Malone, who own the two fastest 1500-meter times in the nation so far this season, are among 16 top high school athletes added to the fields for the adidas Dream 100 and adidas Dream Mile at the adidas Grand Prix on June 9, organizers have announced.

Also headlining the roster are Ajee Wilson, the 2011 World Youth Champion at 800 meters, and freshman sensation Alexa Efraimson, the first freshman ever invited to a Dream event.

The Dream 100 and Dream Mile are again destined to be among the most hotly contested events at the adidas Grand Prix on June 9. In its eighth year as one of the premier track-and-field events in the world, the adidas Grand Prix, at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, will feature dozens of Olympic medalists and World Champions, including Yohan Blake, the reigning 100-meter World Champion, and David Rudisha, the 800-meter World Record-holder, who will be making his U.S. debut. The event will again be the sixth stop on the international Samsung Diamond League circuit and is part of the Visa Championships Series.

Lampron, a senior from Mansfield, Mass., last weekend ran 3:45.74 for 1500 meters at a meet in Boston, among the top-20 high school times in U.S. history and the fastest in the nation since 2009. The 2011 national champion in the mile, Lampron is a three-time state champion and will attend Villanova University in the fall.

Malone, a junior from Hillsdale, N.J., is the 2012 National Indoor Champion at 800 meters and holds U.S. high school indoor records for a junior at 800 meters (1:49.94) and 1000 meters (2:23.56). On Monday, he ran the #2 time in the U.S. at 1500 meters, 3:49.84.

A senior from Neptune, N.J., Wilson is one of the top high school athletes in New Jersey history. Currently ranked #2 in the nation at 800 meters, she finished the 2012 indoor season ranked #1 at both 600 and 800 meters. A qualifier for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Wilson will attend Florida State University.

Efraimson, of Camas, Wash., has run 4:23.41 for 1500 meters already this season to rank #4 on the U.S. list, and her time of 2:08.92 for 800 meters is #7. She finished 14th at cross country nationals last fall.

Also accepting invitations to the Boys’ Dream Mile are Jacob Burcham, a junior from Ona, W. Va.; who finished seventh at 1500 meters in the 2011 World Youth Championships in 3:46.55, the fastest time by a U.S. prep last year; Brannon Kidder, a senior from Lancaster, Ohio, a four-time state track champion ranked #4 in the U.S. at 1600 meters who is headed to Penn State University; Craig Nowak, a senior from Cypress, Tex., who is a five-time 5A state champion, ranks #2 at 1600 meters and #3 at 3200 meters, and will attend Oklahoma State University; and Craig Engels, a senior from Pfafftown, N.C., ranked in the top 10 at the mile (#3), 1500 meters (#4), and 3200 meters (#10). Engels was the 2012 Penn Relays Mile Champion in front of Burcham, the runner-up, and Malone, who placed third. He will attend North Carolina State University.

Joining Wilson and Efraimson in the Girls’ Dream Mile will be Haley Pierce, a senior from Wilmington, Del., the 15-time State Champion ranked #3 at 3200 meters and #4 at 1600 meters who will attend Georgetown University; Angel Piccirillo, a senior from Homer Center, Penn., who is a two-time state Gatorade Cross-Country Athlete of the Year, a seven-time State Champion, ranks #2 in the mile and will attend Villanova University; Amy-Eloise Neale, a junior from Snohomish, Wash., six-time Washington 3A State Champion ranked #4 in the mile and #6 at 1500 meters; and Paige Rice, a sophomore from St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, Ore., the 6A Oregon Cross Country State Champion ranked #4 in the U.S. at 1500 meters.

Burcham, Wilson, Pierce, Piccirillo and Neale are all making return Dream Mile appearances.

Joining the field of the adidas Boys’ Dream 100 are Raymond Bozmans of Fort Collins, Colo., a senior ranked #3 in the U.S. at 100 meters and #5 at 200 meters who is the 2012 Arcadia Invite Champion and will attend Texas Christian University on a football scholarship; and Khalfani Muhammad of Sherman Oaks, Calif., a junior who is the 2012 Mt. SAC champion at both 100 and 200 meters and 2011 state runner-up in both distances.

Added to the adidas Girls’ Dream 100 are Kali Davis-White of Lauderdale Lake, Fla., a junior ranked #4 in the U.S. and 2012 Florida State 4A runner-up at both 100 and 200 meters to the previously announced Shayla Sanders; and Destinee Gause of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, a senior who is the 2012 National Indoor Champion at 200 meters and is ranked #5 at 100 meters. The 2011 Ohio State Champion at 100 and 200 meters, she will attend the University of Florida.

Fields for the Dream Mile and Dream 100 are being drawn from the winners of three qualifying meets in the adidas Golden Stripes series, as well as from at-large bids. The first meet, the adidas Meet of Champions, was held on March 24, followed by the Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kan., April 19-21. Next up is the Golden South Classic in Orlando, Fla., on May 26. In addition to the opportunity to compete in a world-class international track event, athletes in the Dream Mile and Dream 100 will also have the chance to receive coaching from mile legend Jim Ryun.

Oxy High Performance Meet Start Lists: Villanova Athletes

Several Villanova athletes past and present will compete this Friday night in Los Angeles at Occidental College's Oxy High Performance meet. Specifically, the women's 1500 meter race (8:20 pm PT) will showcase the following Villanovans: Carmen Douma-Hussar, Marina Muncan, Nicole Schappert, Jen Rhines, and current NCAA defending champion Sheila Reid. In the 5000 meters (women 9:35 pm PT, men 9:55 pm PT) Carrie Tollefson will attempt to achieve the entry standards for the US Olympic Trials; the "B" standard is 15:50 and the "A" is 15:35. Tollefson has run two 5000 meter races this spring, hitting 16:26.63 at the Hamline Invitational on April 8th and 16:12.64 at Stanford on April 29th. On the men's side, Adrian Blincoe will try to rebound from a fall/DNF in the 10,000 race at Stanford. He ran very well on April 15th to finish 4th at the B.A.A. road 5K in 13:46. Blincoe, a 2008 Olympian at 5000 meters, already owns the Olympic "A" for the London Games, having run 13:18.27 in Barcelona on July 22, 2011.

Each of these races includes an impressive list of top talent, so the times should be fast. Here are the respective start lists:
Event 5  Women 1500 Meter Run
==========================================================================
Friday 5/18/2012 - 8:20 PM
     Name                        Year Team                                  
==========================================================================
  1  Gabriele Anderson                Brooks                      
  2  Lauren Bonds                     adidas/Raleigh              
  3  Sarah Bowman                     New Balance                 
  4  Lauren Centrowitz                New Balance                 
  5  Emma Coburn                      U of Colorado               
  6  Kim Conley                       SRA Elite                   
  7  Heidi Dahl                       New Balance                 
  8  Amanda Dunne                     Unattached                  
  9  Malindi Elmore                   Speed River TC              
 10  Brie Felnagle                    adidas                      
 11  Lindsey Gallo                    Unattached                  
 12  Dawn Grunnagle                   Nike O T C                  
 13  Lauren Hagans                    Asics                       
 14  Ashley Hinther                   Canada                      
 15  Carmen Husser                    New Balance                 
 16  Maggie Infeld                    NYAC-Nike                   
 17  Julia Kawamoto                   Canada                      
 18  Annick Lamar                     New York AC                 
 19  Julia Lucas                      Nike O T C                  
 20  Katie Mackey                     Brooks                      
 21  Elizabeth Maloy                  New Balance                 
 22  Brenda Martinez                  New Balance                 
 23  Amy Mortimer-Garman              Saucony                     
 24  Treniere Moser                   Nike                        
 25  Marina Muncan                    New Balance                 
 26  Dacia Perkins                    adidas/Rogue AC             
 27  Anna Pierce                      Nike                        
 28  Natalja Piliusina                Oklahoma St                 
 29  Sheila Reid                      Villanova                   
 30  Jen Rhines                       adidas                      
 31  Shannon Rowbury                  Nike                        
 32  Nicole Schappert                 New York AC                 
 33  Nicole Sifuentes                 Saucony                     
 34  Hilary Stellingwerff             Speed River TC              
 35  Renee Tomlin                     Nike                        
 36  Morgan Uceny                     adidas                      
 37  Kate Van Buskirk                 Canada                      
 38  Sara Vaughn                      Nike                        
 39  Maggie Vessey                    Unattached                  
 40  Lea Wallace                      Nike                        
 41  Phoebe Wright                    Nike                        
 

Event 7  Women 5000 Meter Run
==========================================================================
Friday 5/18/2012 - 9:35 PM
     Name                        Year Team                                  
==========================================================================
  1  Jackie Areson                    Nike                        
  2  Annie Bersagel                   N B Silicon Vlly            
  3  Addie Bracy                      Italy                       
  4  Emily Brichacek                  Australia                   
  5  Georgie Clarke                   Australia                   
  6  Melissa Cook                     Unattached                  
  7  Lisa Corrigan                    Australia                   
  8  Liz Costello                     Tennessee AC                
  9  Kaitlin Gregg                    N B Silicon Vlly            
 10  Amy Hastings                     Brooks                      
 11  Deena Kastor                     Asics                       
 12  Monica Kinney                    Unattached                  
 13  Julia Lucas                      Nike O T C                  
 14  Tarah McKay-Korir                Canada                      
 15  Sarah Porter                     Zap Fitness                 
 16  Stephanie Reilly                 Ireland                     
 17  Kristen Rohde                    Unattached                  
 18  Blake Russell                    Reebok                      
 19  Sara Slattery                    Unattached                  
 20  Carrie Tollefson                 adidas                      
 21  Lisa Uhl                         Nike O T C                  

Event 8  Men 5000 Meter Run
==========================================================================
Friday 5/18/2012 - 9:55 PM
     Name                        Year Team                                  
==========================================================================
  1  Bolota Asmerom                   Unattached                  
  2  Chris Barnicle                   New Balance                 
  3  Juan Luis Barrios                Nike                        
  4  Scott Bauhs                      Mammoth TC                  
  5  Brandon Bethke                   Michigan Elite              
  6  Adrian Blincoe                   New Zealand                 
  7  Josphat Boit                     Mammoth TC                  
  8  Forest Braden                    Unattached                  
  9  Sam Chelanga                     Nike O T C                  
 10  Robert Cheseret                  U S Army                    
 11  Ian Dobson                       Oregon TC                   
 12  Rory Fraser                      UK Athletics                
 13  Elliott Heath                    Unattached                  
 14  Sean Houseworth                  Falcon Dst Prjct            
 15  Jeremy Johnson                   Brooks                      
 16  Tony Okello                      Santa Monica TC             
 17  Stephen Pifer                    Oregon TC                   
 18  Jacob Riley                      Unattached                  
 19  Dathan Ritzenhein                Nike O T C                  
 20  Jake Robertson                   New Zealand                 
 21  Zane Robertson                   New Zealand                 
 22  Matt Tegenkamp                   Nike O T C                  
 23  Lane Wurthy                      Unattached