BIG EAST Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Casey Comber, Villanova, Sophomore
Comber anchored both Villanova wins at the Penn Relays this weekend. The sophomore ran a split of 3:59.79 over 1,600 meters on the last leg of the distance medley relay and less than 24 hours later had a split of 4:04.5 on the last leg of the 4xMile relay. He is the first Villanova men’s runner to anchor two winning relays at the Penn Relays in the same year since John Marshall did so in 1983.
BIG EAST Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Joel Swanberg, Marquette, Graduate Student
With a personal-best performance in the pole vault at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet on Saturday, Swanberg broke the school record with a height of 5.00 meters (16-4.75 feet), which currently lists atop the BIG EAST rankings this season. The BIG EAST’S reigning indoor pole vault champion improved his season-best mark by more than seven inches.
BIG EAST Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova, Junior
Hutchinson was named Women’s Athlete of the Meet for the relay events at Penn Relays this weekend. She anchored the Wildcats’ win in the 4x1,500-meter relay with a split of 4:17.0 and ran the 1,200-meter leg of the winning distance medley relay with a split of 3:21.86. Hutchinson has been a part of Championship of America winning relays in all six career races she has run at the Penn Relays.
BIG EAST Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Taryn Ashby, Villanova, Freshman
Ashby won the college section of the javelin with a personal-best throw of 46.16 meters. The mark is second in the BIG EAST this season, fourth all-time on the Villanova performance list and 31st on the East region qualifying list this season.
BIG EAST Notable Performances
- Wade Walder led Butler at the Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville. Walder recorded a PR in the 110-meter hurdles (14.94) to rank second in the BIG EAST this season and sixth in Butler history. Later in the day, Walder won the second section of the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 56.24.
- DePaul records were broken on Saturday as Alexia Brooks snapped the 100-meter hurdle standard twice – first in the prelims (13.66) before cutting that time to 13.46 in the finals at the Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville. The clip current ranks 60th nationally, 23rd in the West Region and tops in the BIG EAST.
- Cassy Goodrich was a member of two record-setting relay teams over the weekend at the Drake Relays. Goodrich led Marquette’s 4x200 and sprint medley relay teams to school records on Saturday. Along with Breanne Marchan, Madison Marko and Terica Harris, Goodrich ran the second leg en route to a finishing time of 1:37.46, which was good for second place overall and overtook the previous mark set back in 1997. In the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay, she ran the third leg with Marchan, Marko and Meghan Carroll with a time of 3:55.77. It was good for seventh place overall.
- Competing at a pair of meets this weekend, Liam Harris shined for Providence. Harris finished 19th overall in the 5,000 meters at the Penn Relays with a personal best time of 14:18.17. He then came back on Sunday to win the Brown Springtime Invitational steeplechase with a time of 9:13.32, winning by over two minutes.
- St. John’s Torisha LaForce shined at the 124th Penn Relays, setting a career best in the 400-meter hurdles. The junior finished 29th with a time of 1:02.61, also qualifying for the ECAC's in the process.