Complete NCAA Championships Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--Senior middle distance runner Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) completed a difficult double at the NCAA Championships on Saturday night, placing second in the Mile and 13th in the 3000 meters at the Birmingham Crossplex. She scored in the Mile at the national meet for the second straight year and tallied the highest individual finish of her career at a national championship. Just two hours after the race, she was back on the track for the third time in just over 24 hours to run in the 3000 meters.

Piccirillo recorded a time of 4:36.26 in the final of the Mile and hung in until the end in a race that was down to two serious contenders for the final two laps. She and eventual champion Kaela Edwards of Oklahoma State pulled away from a four-person lead pack with 400 meters to go and Piccirillo worked hard to push the pace as she and Edwards put a gap between themselves and the rest of the field. Edwards surged into the lead late in the final lap to take the win in 4:35.26.

Earlier in the race, Piccirillo and Edwards, along with Elinor Purrier of New Hampshire and Andrea Keklak of Georgetown, established themselves at the front of the pack with 600 meters to go. Purrier and Keklak were more than two seconds off the pace by the end, as they finished third (4:38.42) and fourth (4:38.44), respectively.

The time of 4:36.26 is nearly identical to the one that Piccirillo posted in the preliminary heats on Friday night. She was the second-fastest overall qualifier in the preliminaries with a time of 4:36.25 and lived up to that billing in the final. Piccirillo was ranked eighth in the nation in the Mile entering the national championships.

Just two athletes, Piccirillo and Erin Teschuk of North Dakota State, competed in both the Mile and the 3000 meters on Saturday evening. Piccirillo finished 13th with a time of 9:25.12 in her later race, which marked only the second time in her collegiate career she competed in the event. Piccirillo had recorded a personal best time of 9:06.39 in the 3000 meters at the Penn State National in January. In the national championship race, she ran her first mile with an unofficial split of 4:52 and was in seventh place midway through the race before settling on the 13th place finish.

Piccirillo scored eight team points with her runner-up finish in the Mile. This is the third straight year and the 21st time overall that Villanova has scored in the Mile at the indoor NCAA meet. Since the national championships began in 1983, the Wildcats have scored in 30 of the 34 years and are one of just six programs to record points at the meet at least 30 times in its history. Villanova has now scored in each of the last eight seasons, which is tied for the seventh-longest streak in the nation.

The second place finish in the Mile comes on the heels of Piccirillo placing seventh in the event last year. She is the Wildcats first athlete to record a top-eight finish in the same indoor event at the NCAA Championships in consecutive seasons since Sheila Reid did so in the 3000 meters in 2010 and 2011. The last Villanova athlete to score in the Mile in two straight years was Becky Spies in 1994 and 1995.

Piccirillo competed at the indoor national championships all four years of her Wildcats career. In addition to being a qualifier in the Mile last season, she also ran on the Villanova entries in the distance medley relay in three straight years from 2013-15. The official list of All-America honors for the indoor season will be released early next week.

Women's Mile ââ'¬" Complete Results

Kaela Edwards, Oklahoma State ââ'¬" 4:35.62
Angel Piccirillo, Villanova ââ'¬" 4:36.26
Elinor Purrier, New Hampshire ââ'¬" 4:38.42
Andrea Keklak, Georgetown ââ'¬" 4:38.44
Sophie Connor, New Mexico ââ'¬" 4:38.83
Erin Teschuk, North Dakota State ââ'¬" 4:38.94
Megan Moye, North Carolina State ââ'¬" 4:38.99
Eleanor Fulton, Washington ââ'¬" 4:40.15
Heather MacLean, Massachusetts ââ'¬" 4:43.29
Grace Barnett, Clemson ââ'¬" 4:48.55

Women's 3000 Meters ââ'¬" Complete Results

Molly Seidel, Notre Dame ââ'¬" 8:57.86
Erin Finn, Michigan ââ'¬" 9:04.40
Katrina Coogan, Georgetown ââ'¬" 9:07.74
Erin Teschuk, North Dakota State ââ'¬" 9:08.45
Erin Clark, Colorado ââ'¬" 9:08.63
Calli Thackery, New Mexico ââ'¬" 9:09.35
Alli Cash, Oregon ââ'¬" 9:09.46
Kaitlyn Benner, Colorado ââ'¬" 9:09.66
Bethan Knights, California ââ'¬" 9:09.79
Vanessa Fraser, Stanford ââ'¬" 9:15.09
Erika Kemp, North Carolina State ââ'¬" 9:19.88
Regan Rome, William & Mary ââ'¬" 9:22.60
Angel Piccirillo, Villanova ââ'¬" 9:25.12