Villanova University

Jan. 26, 2013

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The second and final day of competition at the Penn State National was a good one for Villanova at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Saturday afternoon, where the team registered several strong performances in the prestigious invitational sections of the running events. In addition to the individual success the Wildcats also won the invitational 4x800 meter relay.

Freshman Kelsey Margey (Huntington, N.Y.) put up a big time in the invitational 800 meters and placed second in a field of eight runners with a time of 2:08.17, a virtual match for a career-best mark of 2:08 she recorded while in high school. Margey finished less than half of a second off the winning pace and lowered her season best time by well over two seconds. Senior Ariann Neutts (Succasunna, N.J.) came in seventh in the race with a time of 2:13.06.

Villanova had a deep group of runners in the invitational Mile and the four Wildcats who competed in that race were led by junior Emily Lipari (Greenvale, N.Y.), who came in third out of 12 competitors overall with a time of 4:39.36. Freshman Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) finished fifth (4:40.08), while junior Nicky Akande (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and sophomore Stephanie Schappert (Delray Beach, Fla.) were sixth (4:42.34) and seventh (4:43.69), respectively. The times for Akande and Schappert are both new personal bests.

In the invitational section of the 500 meters freshman Michaela Wilkins (Ellicott City, Md.) came in second out of six runners with a time of 1:13.84. She set a personal best in the event by a margin of more than 1.5 seconds as she eclipsed a strong time that she had put up in the Jack Pyrah Invitational to begin the season.

Another noteworthy performance in the invitational events came from sophomore Leanne Tucker (Tewksbury, Mass.) in the 600 meters. In a field of five competitors Tucker was the runner up in 1:35.13 and was also the first collegiate finisher across the line by a margin of more than three seconds.

Sophomore Courtney Chapman (Fayetteville, N.Y.) came in 15th in the invitational 3000 meters with a time of 9:48.50.

This meet marked the second time this season that the Wildcats ran a 4x800 meter relay and the team came away with its second victory in as many tries. Villanova recorded a time of 8:50.80 to win the relay by a comfortable margin.

In the field events junior Samantha Francis (Kingston, Jamaica) and freshman Anne Yahiro (Downers Grove, Ill.) were each sensational in the triple jump. Francis went over 12 meters for the first time this season and came in second out of 22 competitors with a mark of 12.42 meters. Yahiro registered a new personal best for the second time this season with a distance of 11.53 meters, good for 11th place in the field.

Next weekend the Wildcats will be back in action at the Armory Collegiate Invitational on Friday and Saturday. That is the final meet before the BIG EAST Championships in mid-February.

COMPLETE VILLANOVA RESULTS

200 Meters

Varonica Johnson             6th of 33          24.72          1st of 5 (Heat 5)

400 Meters

Qualitra Brown               27th of 32         58.79          4th of 4 (Heat 1)

500 Meters Invitational

Michaela Wilkins             2nd of 6           1:13.84

500 Meters

Mary Bohi                    8th of 19          1:17.39        2nd of 4 (Heat 1)

600 Meters Invitational

Leanne Tucker                2nd of 5           1:35.13

800 Meters Invitational

Kelsey Margey                2nd of 8           2:08.17
Ariann Neutts                7th                2:13.06

800 Meters

Shannon Browne               tie-3rd of 17      2:14.77

1000 Meters

Amanda Borroughs             6th of 8           3:00.23

Mile Invitational

Emily Lipari                 3rd of 12          4:39.36
Angel Piccirillo             5th                4:40.08
Nicky Akande                 6th                4:42.34
Stephanie Schappert          7th                4:43.69

3000 Meters Invitational

Courtney Chapman             15th of 18         9:48.50

4x400 Meter Relay

Villanova                    8th of 13          3:49.88

4x800 Meter Relay Invitational

Villanova                    1st of 2           8:50.80

Pole Vault

Kathleen McPhillips          2nd of 11          3.55m
Abigail Nolte                4th                3.55m
Virginia LaMacchia           7th                3.40m

High Jump

Samantha Yeats               4th of 19          1.76m

Triple Jump

Samantha Francis             2nd of 22          12.42m
Anne Yahiro                  11th               11.53m