Feb. 21, 2008

Villanova BIG EAST Qualifiers
BIG EAST Championship Central
Live Results

VILLANOVA, Pa.-- This weekend the men's indoor track & field team will compete in the BIG EAST Championships, held at the New York Armory in the Bronx. During the indoor season the team has had 26 different individuals qualify for the conference meet in a total of 12 events, while Villanova also posted qualifying times in three relays.

The middle and longer distance events appear to be where the Wildcats will make their biggest impact. Villanova has seven qualifiers in the mile, six in the 1000 meter run, four in the 800 meters and three in the 3000 meters. Senior Bobby Curtis (Louisville, Ky.) will run in the 3000 meters on the same track on which he shattered a meet record in the New Balance games just two weeks ago. His time of 7:50.17 was an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships and the fastest mark by a BIG EAST runner this year.

In the mile, freshman Carl Mackenzie (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) posted a provisional NCAA time with his run of 4:00.25 at the New Balance meet. That is also the fourth-fastest BIG EAST time this season.

Junior Sean Tully (Syosset, N.Y.) holds the second-fastest time in the 800 meters and the third-fastest in the 1000 meters in the league this season. His top mark in the 800 meters was 1:50.73 at the Penn State National Open, while his time of 2:23.22 in the 1000 meters at the New Balance games set a new meet record.

The Wildcats should also get a strong performance from junior Elvis Lewis (West Hempstead, N.Y.), who has qualified in the 400 meters and 500 meters. Lewis owns the fastest time in the BIG EAST in the 400 meter dash this season, having posted a time of 47.46 at the Penn State National Open.

One Villanova athlete to keep an eye on is junior Bill Sepich (Delran, N.J.). A two-sport athlete, Sepich has achieved the rare distinction of qualifying for the conference meet in both track & field and swimming. Both league championships are being held this weekend in the New York area and Sepich will be competing in both. He started his busy week on Wednesday by swimming in a relay event for the swim team at the BIG EAST Championships in East Meadow, N.Y. Sepich will compete in at least two more relays and one individual event in swimming before running in the 1000 meters at the track championships.

In relay events, Villanova currently owns the second fastest time in the BIG EAST in the 4x400 meter relay. The Wildcats are also third in both the 4x800 meter relay and the distance medley relay.

Click on the link at the top of this release to access a complete list of Villanova athletes that have qualified for this weekend's conference championships. A complete recap of all the action in this weekend's tournament will be available late Saturday and Sunday evening at www.villanova.com and at www.bigeast.org.