May 1, 2008

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova men's and women's track and field squads are set for the BIG EAST Championships beginning May 2-4. Villanova is the host of the track championships with action taking place on the Jumbo Elliot Track at Villanova Stadium.

Senior Bobby Curtis will be running the 5,000m. Curtis sits eighth on the conference's performance list with a time of 14:02.33. Freshman Carl Mackenzie will run the 1,500m where he is sixth in the conference recording a time of 3:42.05.

The Wildcats have four men running the 800m with juniors Daniel Tully and Sean Tully, freshman Jason Apwah and senior Mark Korich. Sean Tully holds the third best time in the conference recording 1:49.39. Korich and Apwah hold the fifth and sixth times respectively.

Senior Patrick Gazzini is third in the BIG EAST in the 400m hurdles running 52.06 at the Florida Relays. Junior Elvis Lewis will run the 400m where he sits fourth in the conference with a 47.25.

Senior Kevin Okolie will be racing in the 100m and 200m, where he ranks in the top 10 in both events.

Sophomore Daniel Lewis recorded a time of 9:06.05 in the 3,000m steeplechase to rank fifth.

The men's 4x800 relay team holds the top slot in the BIG EAST with a time of 7:26.24.

On the women's side, the Wildcats will be well-represented in the 800m. Seniors Akilah Vargas, Frances Koons and Arusha McKenzie hold the seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the conference respectively.

Koons leads the league in the 1,500m, running 4:18.75 at the Sun Angel Invitational. Vargas ranks second recording her time of 4:19.40 at the Alex Wilson Invitational.

Freshman Kristen Mahon is third in the BIG EAST in the 400m hurdles with 1:00.81. Junior Jordan Sarruda ranks 10th in the event.

Senior Elizabeth Haglund holds the top position in the 3,000m steeplechase. Her time of 10:26.06 at the Sun Angel Invitational put her in first in the conference.

Fans will be able to follow all of the action of the 2008 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships live online at www.bigeast.org.