BIG EAST Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Johnny Leverenz, Butler, Junior
At Vanderbilt’s Black & Gold Invitational (March 23-24), Leverenz clocked two lifetime bests, including the top 1,500 meter time in the NCAA (3:43.61). Leverenz was more than two seconds faster than Jack Anstey of Illinois State, who was second in the event. The junior also finished first in the 800 meters, with a time of 1:49.11. That time is good for the current No. 2 spot in the NCAA.
BIG EAST Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Brian Mada, DePaul, Junior
Mada secured a pair of PRs in Jacksonville, Fla., this past weekend, winning the long jump and triple jump titles at the UNF Spring Break Invitational. Mada’s winning mark in the triple jump (15.69m) currently ranks third among all Division I competitors, while his personal-best long jump distance (7.44m) lists 38
th in the NCAA. Both are tops in the BIG EAST this season.
BIG EAST Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova, Junior
At the Penn Challenge on Saturday, Hutchinson won the 1,500 meters with the fastest time in Division I so far this season, 4:18.69. She is the only athlete with a sub-4:19 time and won Saturday’s race by a margin of nearly five seconds.
BIG EAST Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Emily Eller, DePaul, Junior
Eller broke her own school record with a distance in the shot put of 14.43 meters. The DePaul junior bettered her previous-best mark of 14.33 meters set in 2016 and finished in second place on Friday in Jacksonville. The distance currently ranks in the top 90 in the NCAA.
BIG EAST Notable Performances
- Butler’s Allie Vogeler posted a school record with the 25th-fastest time in the NCAA this season, winning the 400-meter hurdles with a clip of 1:00.08.
- Josh Word of Marquette recorded a trio of top-10 finishes in Jacksonville, including leading off one of the fastest 4x100 relay teams in Marquette history. Word took fifth in the 100-meter dash with a PR and the fifth-fastest time in MU history (10.68) before an eighth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (22.03 seconds). Both times currently rank first and second, respectively, in the BIG EAST.
- St. John’s Maya Stephens Maya Stephens led the Johnnies with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the Hurricane Invitational on Mar. 16-17. The senior’s 52.91 time was second among runners attached to a university and just 0.09 second behind the top-collegiate finisher. It currently ranks sixth nationally.