May 7, 2006

Storrs, Conn. - Elvis Lewis, Drew Eckman, Marina Muncan, Frances Koons, the men's 4x400m relay and the women's 4x800m each captured BIG EAST championships on the second day of the conference championships on the campus of the University of Connecticut.

On Saturday, Andrew Keino, Robert McDade and Ioana Parusheva each took home BIG EAST championships in their respective events.

The Villanova men's team finished fourth overall in the conference with 94 points, while the women's team tied for fourth with 84 points. Notre Dame won the men's team title, and Pittsburgh earned the women's team title.

Lewis won the 400m in 46.76, a personal record and an NCAA regional qualifying time. Eckman took the 400m hurdles, his third straight title in the event, in 51.00, another PR. He also qualified for the NCAA regionals with his time. The men's 4x400m relay team claimed first place with an NCAA regional qualifying time of 3:09.44. Kevin Okolie finished third in the 100m with a personal record time of 10.69. Robert Curtis placed second in the 1500m in an NCAA regional qualifying time.

On the women's side, Muncan won her second BIG EAST title in the 800m with a time of 2:07.22. Her mark qualified her for the NCAA regionals. Teammate Akilah Vargas finished right behind in the event with a personal best time of 2:07.97. Koons took first in the 1500m in a personal record of 4:18.86. Koons' time beat her previous PR by four seconds and qualifies her for the NCAA regionals. The 4x800m relay of Ellen Dougherty, Parusheva, Koons and Muncan set a meet record with its winning time of 8:38.43.

Parusheva followed up her BIG EAST title in the 3000m steeplechase yesterday with a third place finish in the 1500m. Her time of 4:22.28 qualified her for the NCAA regionals. Monique Morgan and Yolanda Malcolm placed 2-3 in the 100m hurdles. Both qualified for the NCAA regionals with their times. Morgan also turned in an NCAA regional qualifying time with her third place finish in the 400m hurdles.

Men's Results 1. Notre Dame (132) 2. Louisville (125) 3. Connecticut (103) 4. Villanova (94) 5. Cincinnati (80) 6. Rutgers (62) 7. Pittsburgh (58) 8. Georgetown (54) 9. USF (41) 10. Marquette (32) 11. Syracuse (31) 12. Seton Hall (25) 12. Providence (20)

Women's Results 1. Pittsburgh (117) 2. Notre Dame (106.50) 3. Syracuse (87) T4. Connecticut (84) T4. Villanova (84) 6. Louisville (63) 7. Georgetown (57) 8. St. John's (56) 9. West Virginia (44) 10. Rutgers (39) 11. Marquette (31) 12. Seton Hall (27) 13. Cincinnati (25.50) 14. Providence (15) 15. USF (13) 16. DePaul (9)