Providence's Briana Illarda broke the meet and stadium record in the women's steeplechase.
Results from Day One | Live Results | Championship Central
VILLANOVA, Pa. – After the first day of the 2017 BIG EAST Track & Field Championships Presented by Jeep at the Jumbo Elliott Track at Villanova Stadium, both the Marquette men and women are in the lead with 60 points on the women’s side and 71 points on the men’s side.
On the women’s side, Villanova is in second with 46 points, while DePaul is in third with 35 points. For the men, the Blue Demons are in second behind the Golden Eagles with 51 points. The Wildcats are in third with 36 points.
Final events for Friday included the men’s and women’s steeplechase and 10K, pole vault, long jump, hammer throw, javelin, and men’s high jump.
Highlighting Friday’s track championship events was Providence junior Briana Ilarda who defended her title in the women’s steeplechase while setting a stadium and championship record with a time of 9:56.33. The previous record was also held by a Friar, Roisin McGettigan. She held the record since 2003. The Villanova Stadium record was 10:12.4, held by Sarah Morrison since the 2009 BIG EAST Championships.
For the field events, Marquette senior John Krzyszkowski won the men’s javelin throw for the fourth-straight time. Kryzszkowski was the ninth BIG EAST student-athlete on the men’s side to champion an outdoor event four times and the first since 2005. Kryzszkowski threw a distance of 70.26 meters.
Georgetown, taking on the moniker “SteepleU” rounded out the podium on the women’s side was junior Autumn Eastman and Margie Cullen came in second and third with times of 10:23.12 and 10:39.37, respectively. On the men’s side, the “SteepleU” Hoyas swept the podium as senior Darren Fahy repeated as the champion, crossing the finish line along with junior Scott Carpenter at 8:51.72, a time splitting into thousandths to determine the winner. Freshman Eion Nohilly came in third at 9:07.90.
Butler senior Olivia Pratt became a two-time 10K winner as she beat her 2016 champion time by six seconds, crossing the finish line at 34:14.18. Providence senior Stephen Robertson won the 10K on the men’s side with a time of 30:08.04. Butler’s Matt Lumbar came in second at 30:11.68 and Friar Tom O’Neill finished third at 30:12.57.
St. John’s junior Nyla Woods successfully defended her hammer throw title with a distance of 53.79 meters. DePaul rookie Rebecca Chounaird came in second with a throw of 52.99 meters and Marquette’s Keely Knobbe finished third with a distance of 49.14 meters.
Villanova senior Caroline Hamilton also repeated as the BIG EAST Champion in her event, winning the javelin event with a throw of 44.51 meters. St. John’s Olivia Pantale came in second with a throw of 40.04 meters. Wildcat Hannah Lee earned the bronze with a distance of 39.57 meters.
In the women’s long jump, junior Terica Harris was the BIG EAST Champion with a distance of 5.87 meters. DePaul senior Gabrielle Howard was runner up with a jump of 5.78 meters. St. John’s junior Anointing Onuoha rounded out the medal stand with a distance of 5.76 meters.
In the pole vault junior Gemma Tedschi took home the title with a height of 3.81 meters. Villanova rounded out the medal stand as Bridget Owen and Adeline Scelzi finished second and third, respectively at 3.71 meters.
In men’s field events, DePaul senior Trevor Kintyhtt repeated as the men’s hammer winner with a throw of 62.61 meters. Teammate Dominic Marshall, a rookie, was runner up with a distance of 53.64 meters. Marquette sophomore Brendan McKinney was third with a throw of 52.82 meters.
Long jump champion Dwayne Dash successfully defending his title as he jumped 7.29 meters. Xavier junior Zachary Polk was runner up with a distance of 7.06 meters and DePaul freshman Xavier Taylor rounded out the podium with a 7.05 meter jump.
Joining four-time champion Krzyszkowski on the medal stand for the javelin was Villanova sophomore Jack Judge (59.50 meters) and Marquette sophomore Eric Fellin (56.80 meters). Kryzszkowski’s winning throw was 10.76 meters ahead of Judge.
Villanova sophomore Thomas Conboy won the men’s pole vault event with a height of 4.71 meters. Butler rookie Wade Walder was runner up and Marquette sophomore James Kubik was third at 4.51 meters.
Rookie Daniel Armstrong from Marquette won the men’s high jump with a height of 2.15 meters. Xavier senior Russell Platt was the runner up with a height of 2.00 meters. Butler’s Dakota Thompson was third with 1.90 meters.
After four events scored in the heptathlon (100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash), Marquette sophomore Monique Felix leads with 3,140 points. Felix won the event in 2016 and won all but the shot put on Friday. St. John’s senior Julian Swan is in second with 2,780 points. In the decathlon, five events were completed on Friday (100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash). Marquette freshman Sam Sagan leads the field of six with 3,331 points. He won all but the high jump event. Butler freshman Wade Walder, the 2017 Indoor BIG EAST Heptathlon champion, is in second with 3,233 points.
Championship action on the track begins at 10 a.m. with the men’s decathlon on 110-meter hurdles. The full event schedule and meet program can be found on the BIG EAST Track & Field Championship Central. The BIG EAST Digital Network broadcast beings at 12:55 p.m. ET.
The pole vault competition will be indoors on Saturday due to forecasted weather in the area.
Women (6 events scored)
1. Marquette – 60 points
2. Villanova – 46
3. DePaul – 35
4. St. John’s – 29
5. Georgetown – 20
T6. Butler – 17
T6. Providence 17
8. Xavier – 10
Men (7 events scored)
1. Marquette – 71 points
2. DePaul – 51
3. Villanova – 36
4. Butler – 35
5. Georgetown – 34
6. Providence – 23
7. Xavier – 17