BIG EAST Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Joe White, Georgetown, Grad.
At the 125th running of the Penn Relays Carnival, Joe White ran the anchor leg of a pair of winning relays. On Friday, he ran the anchor of the sprint medley relay, clocking his 800-meter split at 1:46.45 – a time alone which would rank among the best in the nation this season. White then anchored the winning Championship of America 4x800m Relay Presented by US Army. With the win, the men's squad captured its 26th Championship of America title. White clocked 7:25.18 en route to its 11th title in the event and the first since 2004.
BIG EAST Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Brendan McKinney, Marquette, Sr.
McKinney competed at the Marquette Midweek Challenge, the Viking Classic at Grand View University and the Drake Relays over the last week. The senior competed in all four throwing events in the home meet on Wednesday, while recording season-best marks in both the hammer and javelin. His hammer mark of 57.56 meters is the tops in the BIG EAST this season, 71
st in the West Region, and vaults him to third in program history in the event. His javelin mark of 42.87 meters is the No. 13 league mark in 2019 and he sits second in the discus and seventh in the shot put with marks posted at USF on April 19. McKinney competed in both the hammer and discus at Grand View on Friday and at Drake on Saturday.
BIG EAST Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Briana Ilarda, Providence, Sr.
Ilarda won the 3,000 meter-steeplechase at the 125th Penn Relays, snapping the tape in 9:55.43, nine seconds in front of the second-place finisher to break the meet record. It marked the senior’s third career win at the Penn Relays. Ilarda already owns the top steeplechase time in the nation this season from March 29 (9:50.42), while her Penn Relays time would still list in the top five in 2019.
BIG EAST Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Sanaä Barnes, Villanova, Freshman
Barnes qualified for the championship section of the high jump at the Penn Relays. She came in second with a height of 1.82 meters. Barnes and the first place finisher from Penn both cleared the bar at that height on their first try – Barnes finished second as a result of having one more miss earlier in the competition. The height of 1.82 meters sets an outdoor school record, to go along with the indoor mark of 1.84 meters that Barnes recorded at the NCAA Championships. It currently leads the BIG EAST, ranks 10
th nationally and fifth in the East Region.
BIG EAST Notable Performances
- DePaul had a successful weekend at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville – Henry Larkin tied Blue Demon head coach Dave Dopek’s school-record mark in the 400m (46.46), a time which lists 51st nationally this season; Kiersten Walker ran a DePaul-record 53.89 in the 400m to rank 75th nationally; Jade Gates set a school record in the hammer throw (61.85m) to list 41st nationally
- Keely Knobbe led Marquette with a pair of top-four BIG EAST marks this season, competing at the Marquette Midweek Challenge, the Viking Classic at Grand View University and the Drake Relays; Knobbe recorded the top discus distance (47.63m) in the league this year to rank 78th in the West Region, while her hammer throw (54.76m) ranks fourth in the BIGEAST and 76th in the West Region
- Rachel McArthur ran on all three of the Villanova distance relays at the Penn Relays; she had the fastest split on the Wildcats’ winning 4x1500 with a split of 4:18.4 on the second leg of the race; she essentially won the race for VU on the second leg, turning a four-second deficit when she got the baton into a five-second lead by the time she handed off; also had 800 meter splits of 2:06.42 and 2:11.59 on the distance medley and 4x800 meter relays