Feb. 19, 2000

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Villanova men's and women's track & field teams competed in the first day of competition at the 21st annual Big East Indoor Track & Field Championships held at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. After day one, the Villanova women are in third place with 28 points, while the Wildcat men ar currently in sixth position with 13 points. Notre Dame leads both the men's and women's standings after day one.

Highlighting the day for Villanova was the performance of senior Carrie Tollefson who captured the 5,000 meter run in a sensational time of 16:04.05. The time rates as the second fastest in the nation among collegiate performances this season. Tollefson just missed the Big East Indoor meet record of 16:02.67 set in 1994 by Villanova's Jen Rhines. Tollefson now owns four individual Big East track titles. Finishing runner-up to Tollefson in the 5,000 meter run was Villanova junior Ann McGranahan who was clocked in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:26.37.

Also scoring points on the women's side for Villanova were junior Marlena Robinson who tallied a sixth place finish in the long jump with a leap of 19'05.50 and senior Sarah Hunt who finished eighth in the weight throw with a mark of 48'11.75. The Wildcat Distance Medley Relay team placed third in a time of 11:39.50.

On the men's side, Villanova senior Jermaine Deans recorded a jump of 23'06.00 to place sixth in the long jump, while sophomore Mark Blattner was fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 53'03.00. In the DMR, the 'Cats ran 9:59.48 to finish third.

The meet will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 20 with a full day of competition beginning at 11:30 a.m.