May 31, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Senior Frances Koons (Allentown, Pa.) automatically qualified for the national championship race next month with a third-place finish in the 5000 meter run on Friday in the NCAA East Regional at Mike Long Track on the campus of Florida State University. Villanova opened competition at the regional on Friday with a total of five different athletes in competition.

Koons recorded a time of 16:15.44 in the 5000 meters to earn six team points and qualify for the national championship. She was just 4.02 seconds off the winning pace and came in third out of 34 entries in the competition.

In the 800 meter run, senior Arusha McKenzie (Kingston, Jamaica) came in 10th out of 32 runners in the preliminaries with a time of 2:07.24. She was just 0.22 seconds over the time that would have advanced her to Saturday's final.

The Wildcats had a trio of runners in the 1500 meter run, where senior Akilah Vargas (Brooklyn, N.Y.) crossed 19th in 4:29.44, freshman Callie Hogan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) was 20th in 4:30.81 and freshman Ali Smith (Columbia, Md.) came in 32nd with a time of 4:42.78.

Still to come for Villanova are senior Liz Haglund (Manchester, N.H.) and freshman Sarah Morrison (Chambersburg, Pa.), who will each run in the 3000 meter steeplechase on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. The Wildcats will also field an entry in the 4x400 meter run beginning at 7:15 p.m.