LEXINGTON, Ky. - The first day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary was a good one for Villanova, as three Wildcats advanced to the national quarterfinal round of their respective events at the Kentucky Outdoor Track & Field Complex on Thursday evening. Junior Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Dublin, Ireland) is a quarterfinal qualifier in the 800 meters, while sophomore Nicole Hutchinson (West Vancouver, B.C.) and senior Angel Piccirillo (Homer City, Pa.) each advanced out of the first round of the 1500 meters. Also on Thursday night, sophomore Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) ran in a national semifinal heat of the 10000 meters and finished in 15th place out of 46 runners.

Cleirigh Buttner came in second in her heat of the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.52 to automatically move on to tomorrow night's quarterfinal heats. The top three finishers in each of six heats and the next six fastest times advanced, and Cleirigh Buttner made a strong move during the second lap around the track on Thursday evening to comfortably secure her spot in the quarterfinals.

She was in second place after the first 400 meters as the field of seven runners strung out in a tightly-packed but nearly single-file formation. Cleirigh Buttner and Rachel Weber of Ohio State pulled away from the chase pack early in the bell lap, and Cleirigh Buttner crossed the finish line more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the third place finisher and the final automatic qualifier from the heat. She is ranked 14th overall among the 24 qualifiers for the quarterfinals.

Hutchinson recorded a personal best time of 4:18.48 in the third of four heats of the 1500 meters and placed fourth in her heat to automatically move on to Saturday evening's quarterfinal round. Her heat was the fastest of the four, while Piccirillo finished sixth in her heat with a time of 4:23.62 and is among the four on-time qualifiers for the quarterfinals.

The top five finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times moved on from Thursday's races, and the third heat went out at a hard pace from the starting gun after two tactical heats to open the event. Hutchinson put herself into the top five from the very beginning of the race, and was part of the lead pack which had formed by the midpoint of the race. The five leading runners pulled away from the chase pack leading into the bell and Hutchinson was in solid position to be an automatic qualifier.

Hutchinson's previous personal best of 4:18.50 had come in a race at the Florida Relays earlier this season. She is ranked fourth overall among the 24 qualifiers for the quarterfinal heats after coming into the preliminary meet ranked 13th out of the 48 accepted athletes for the meet.

The second heat of the 1500 meters was a slow one, with a pace of just under 2:20 for the first 800 meters. Just seven-tenths of a second separated the 12 runners in the field with two laps remaining, and Piccirillo was in third place midway through the race as the pace started to quicken. Six runners finally broke away at the start of the bell lap, with Piccirillo in that lead pack. She was sixth across the finish line in 4:23.62, and had the fastest of the four on-time qualifying spots after a 64-second final lap in her heat.

Piccirillo has run a season-best time of 4:14.11 in the 1500 meters and will be seeking a third trip to the NCAA Championships on Saturday night in the quarterfinal heats. Hutchinson moves on to the quarterfinal round for the first time in her career.

In her debut at the NCAA East Preliminary meet, Burda had a time of 34:19.44 in the 10000 meters. The pack of 48 runners took a while to thin out in the cool, but also damp and humid conditions. After the first 5000 meters, nearly half the field - 21 runners in all - was within two seconds of second place while Annie Bothma of Coastal Carolina surged out to a big early lead. The top 12 finishers advanced to the national championships.

Thursday night's race concluded a terrific year of collegiate competition for Burda, who was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 2 team earlier on Thursday afternoon. She was the BIG EAST outdoor champion in the 5000 meters and also ran a leg of the Wildcats champion 4x1500 meter relay at the Penn Relays. She also recorded a time of 33:50.44 in the 10000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, with that mark ranking as the ninth-fastest in school history. Burda was an All-BIG EAST performer indoors in the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters, and also earned both All-BIG EAST and Mid-Atlantic All-Region honors in cross country. She was the winner of the NCAA Elite 90 academic award at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall.

Cleirigh Buttner will compete in the national quarterfinal heats of the 800 meters on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. The quarterfinal round of the 1500 meters is at the same time on Saturday evening, with both Hutchinson and Piccirillo running in those heats.

WOMEN'S 1500 METERS - NATIONAL FIRST ROUND
Top 5 each heat and next 4 fastest times advance to quarterfinal

Heat 1
4:22.08 - Karisa Nelson, Samford
4:22.16 - Jamie Phelan, Michigan
4:22.87 - Frances Schmiede, Yale
4:22.95 - Heather Maclean, Massachusetts
4:24.13 - Kathryn Lazarchick, Wake Forest

Heat 2
4:22.85 - Helen Schlachtenhaufen, Dartmouth
4:23.19 - Grace Barnett, Clemson
4:23.53 - Danielle Aragon, Notre Dame
4:23.54 - Ffion Price, Mississippi State
4:23.56 - Shannon Hugard, Cornell

Heat 3
4:17.57 - Jamie Morrissey, Michigan
4:17.70 - Millie Paladino, Providence
4:18.18 - Megan Moye, North Carolina State
4:18.48 - Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova
4:20.58 - S. Brooke Moore, Indiana State

Heat 4
4:20.81 - Rhianwedd Price, Mississippi State
4:21.63 - Jessica Harris, Notre Dame
4:22.58 - Katie Kennedy, Virginia Tech
4:22.62 - Annika Sisson, Stony Brook
4:22.70 - Haley Meier, Michigan

On-Time Qualifiers
4:22.96 - Shannon Murdock, New Hampshire (Heat 4)
4:23.62 - Angel Piccirillo, Villanova (Heat 2)
4:23.84 - Kimberly Johansen, Elon (Heat 4)
4:24.18 - Kaitlin Hanss, Princeton (Heat 4)

WOMEN'S 800 METERS - NATIONAL FIRST ROUND
Top 3 each heat and next 6 fastest times advance to quarterfinals

Heat 1
2:08.39 - Danae Rivers, Penn State
2:08.47 - Susan Aneno, Connecticut
2:09.13 - Rosie Chamberlain, UCF

Heat 2
2:07.48 - Rachel Weber, Ohio State
2:07.52 - Siofra Cleirigh Buttner, Villanova
2:09.04 - Mae Thompson, Fairleigh Dickinson

Heat 3
2:05.66 - Hanna Green, Virginia Tech
2:06.46 - Ersula Farrow, Clemson
2:07.52 - Kiara McIntosh, Purdue

Heat 4
2:06.87 - Alethia Marrero, Indiana State
2:06.94 - Rachel Pocratsky, Virginia Tech
2:07.51 - Courtney Clayton, Vanderbilt

Heat 5
2:06.63 - Abike Egbeniyi, Middle Tennessee State
2:06.68 - Agnes Abu, Middle Tennessee State
2:06.73 - Maddie McHugh, Ole Miss

Heat 6
2:06.46 - Ruby Stauber, LSU
2:06.58 - Madeline Kopp, Duke
2:07.23 - Laurie Barton, Virginia Tech

On-Time Qualifiers
2:07.19 - Emma Keenan, Georgetown (Heat 5)
2:07.93 - Rachel Banks, Penn State (Heat 4)
2:08.36 - Nia Akins, Penn (Heat 2)
2:08.52 - Danielle Galewski, New Hampshire (2:08.514) (Heat 4)
2:08.52 - Anna Jurew, Princeton (2:08.516) (Heat 3)
2:08.61 - Sarah Hardie, Columbia (Heat 3)