Feb. 23, 2008

Complete Results

NEW YORK - On the first day of the BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Villanova distance medley relay team broke a meet record that had stood for 24 years and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships next month. In addition, two Wildcat athletes finished first in the preliminary heats of their events at the New York Armory.

Villanova not only broke the BIG EAST meet record and the New York Armory facility record in the DMR, but in the process broke a record held in part by current head coach Marcus O'Sullivan. The quartet running in today's race included senior Michael Kerrigan (Stroudsburg, Pa.), freshmen Christopher Giunta (Sands Point, N.Y.), senior Mark Korich (Glenside, Pa.) and senior Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.).

The Wildcats finished in 9:32.89 to edge Georgetown by 0.71 seconds. The Villanova winning time broke the facility record set by Stanford in 2002 by nearly three seconds and the old BIG EAST record by more than five seconds. O'Sullivan anchored the 1984 Wildcat entry that set the previous conference mark of 9:38.38. John Marshall, Charlie Jenkins, Jr. and John Keyworth were the others who ran in that race.

Individually on Saturday, junior Elvis Lewis (Hempstead, N.Y.) and freshman Carl Mackenzie (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) came in first in the preliminaries of the 400 meter dash and the 1000 meter run, respectively. Lewis posted a time of 47.50 in his race to lead 15 competitors and Mackenzie crossed in a time of 2:24.36 that put him a slim 0.12 seconds ahead of a Georgetown runner in the same heat.

Eight different Villanova runners placed high enough in their preliminaries to advance further on Sunday. The list includes senior Kevin Okolie (South Elgin, Ill.), who qualified in both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash.

In one final held on Saturday, sophomore Bobby Papazian (Pittstown, N.J.) came in 15th in the 5000 meter run with a time of 14:56.55.

In the 1000 meters, junior William Sepich (Delran, N.J.) registered a time of 2:37.52. A two-sport athlete at Villanova, Sepich entered the day having already swum in three events over the past three days at the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in East Meadow, N.Y.

As a team, Villanova is tied for seventh place heading into action on Sunday.

See below for complete Villanova results from Saturday's events and the link at the top of this release for complete results. The BIG EAST Championships wrap up on Sunday and a full recap of the day's action will be available at www.villanova.com late Sunday evening.

Complete Villanova Results (Day One)

60 Meter Hurdles (preliminaries, top eight advance)

Patrick Gazzini - 9th of 15 (8.14)
Elliot Whaley - 15th (8.96)

60 Meter Dash (preliminaries, top eight advance)

Kevin Okolie - 4th of 13 (6.82)

Austin Casey - 12th (7.02)

200 Meter Dash (preliminaries, top 10 advance)

Kevin Okolie - 6th of 20 (21.91)
Austin Casey - t-8th (22.25)
Michael Lynch - 16th (22.50)

400 Meter Dash (preliminaries, top 10 advance)

Elvis Lewis - 1st of 15 (47.50)
Garrett Kroner - 7th (48.75)
Christopher Giunta - 11th (49.49)

500 Meter Dash (preliminaries, top 10 advance)

John Morse - 9th of 10 (1:04.27)

800 Meter Run (preliminaries, top 9 advance)

Sean Tully - 3rd of 18 (1:52.01)
Jason Apwah - 6th (1:53.48)
Terence Byrnes - 17th (1:58.28)
Matt Wickler - 18th (2:04.43)

1000 Meter Run (preliminaries, top 9 advance)

Carl Mackenzie - 1st of 17 (2:24.36)
Mark Korich - 14th (2:30.53)
Kyle Audi - 16th (2:33.87)
William Sepich - 17th (2:37.52)

5000 Meter Run (Finals)

Bobby Papazian - 15th of 17 (14:56.55)

Distance Medley Relay (Finals)

Villanova - 1st of 10 (9:32.89) meet record, facility record, NCAA automatic qualifying time