Cats Hit 13 Big East Qualifiers at The Armory

Thirteen Big East automatatic qualifiers were attained Friday night at the Armory's Great Dane Classic, nine on the men's side and four on the women's. The most noteworthy accomplishmsnt of the night belonged to the 1-2-3 finish in the men's 3000 meters. Brian Long (above), Mathew Mildenhall (below), and Hugo Beamish vaulted to the top three spots in the Big east rankings with times of 8:06.59, 8:06.96, and 8:08.58, respectively. The next best time among Big East men is some 13 seconds back. Currently, Long is ranked 6th nationally at 3000, Mildenhall 7th, and Beamish 12th.



Three Cats also qualified for the Big East meet in the mile. Brian Tetreault ran 4:09.99, bettering his previous indoor PR of 4:12.61 from 2010. Jason Apwah went 4:17.00 and Joe LoRusso came across in 4:17.26. They stand 5th, 16th, and 17th on the Big East performance list.
The much anticipated debut of freshman Chris FitzSimons took place in the 1000 meters. FitzSimons came third of 33 runners in 2:27.52, earning a Big East auto qualifier and the 11th best time in the conference so far this indoor season. Joe Capecci was 7th overall in 2:29.01.
The final two men's Big East qualifiers came in the 400 meters. Nicoy Hines (49.46) and Carlton Bowers (49.54) now sit in 7th and 9th places respectively in the conference performance list at that distance.

On the women's side, sprinter Christie Verdier (right) clocked 57.64 over 400 meters, earning an automatic spot in the conference meet. She sits in 11th place on the Big East list. Two automatic qualifier were attained in the women's high jump, with Samantha Yeats (1.75m) winning the event and Audrey Gariepy-Bogui (1.70m) coming third. They sit 4th and 9th in the conference right now. In the pole vault, Ashlyn Llerandi, Villanova's school record holder, won the event by getting over 3.90 meters. She is currently 5th on the conference list.

About one-quarter of the way through the indoor season, Villanova has qualified 37 athletes and 3 relays for the Big East meet. Not counting the relays, among the men, 17 individuals are qualified in 11 events (Hines is qualified at both the 200 and 400). For the women, 20 athletes in 13 events (Ward is qualified at 60, 60H, and 200 meters; Francis at 500 and 800 meters, and Gariepy-Bogui at 60H and the HJ).

Next up on the schedule for both the men and women is the Seamus McElligott meet at nearby Haverford College on Saturday the 29th.