March 14, 2008

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - At the national championship meet on Friday night, the Villanova entry in the distance medley relay placed eighth out of 11 teams at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The Wildcats time of 9:36.42 was four seconds off of the winning pace.

The Villanova quartet included senior Michael Kerrigan (Stroudsburg, Pa.), junior Elvis Lewis (West Hempstead, N.Y.) and seniors Mark Korich (Wyndmoor, Pa.) and Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.).

A squad from Texas won the championship with a time of 9:32.04 and was followed by Arizona State (9:32.49) and Wisconsin (9:33.83) to round out the top three.

The Wildcats had one individual from both the men's and women's teams in competition on Friday night. On the men's side, freshman Carl Mackenzie (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) ran in the preliminary heats in the mile. Mackenzie posted a time of 4:23.80 and finished 13th among 14 competitors. The top 10 individuals advanced to the finals on Saturday.

On the women's side, senior Akilah Vargas (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished 11th overall in the preliminary heats of the mile with a time of 4:43.85. She came within 0.41 seconds of qualifying for the finals on Saturday.

Friday's results leave Villanova with one competitor on Saturday. Curtis will race in the 3000 meter run at 7:35 p.m.