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TAMPA, Fla.--Senior middle distance runner Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Dublin, Ireland), sophomore McKenna Keegan (West Grove, Pa.) and freshman Rachel McArthur (Bristow, Va.) each qualified for the national quarterfinal round of their respective events during competition at the NCAA East Preliminary at the USF Track & Field Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The first round of the 800 meters and the 1500 meters were on the Villanova schedule for the first of three days of competition at the meet, along with the national semifinal round of the 10000 meters and the first round of the javelin.

Cleirigh Buttner and Keegan advanced out of the first round of the 800 meters, while McArthur qualified for the quarterfinals in the 1500 meters. All three runners were automatic qualifiers for the next round based on their finishes in Thursday's heats. Junior Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) competed in the 10000 meters for the second straight year and finished 14th with a time of 34:27.96. Also wrapping up competition on Thursday was freshman thrower Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.), who concluded a terrific freshman campaign with a throw of 43.39 meters in the javelin. She placed ninth in her individual flight and 37th overall.

The fourth of six heats in the first round of the 800 meters was the fastest of the day, with Cleirigh Buttner and Ersula Farrow of LSU pushing the pace from the start. They were at the front of the pack when the bell sounded with 400 meters to go, and the top three runners who earned automatic qualifying spots for tomorrow's quarterfinal heats separated themselves approaching the finish line. Cleirigh Buttner won the heat with an outdoor season best time of 2:03.33, while Farrow was half a second back.

Keegan ran in the first heat of the 800 meters and recorded a personal best time of 2:05.11 to finish third in what was also a particularly fast section. She was in the middle of a tight pack after the first lap around the track but made a big move with 150 meters to go and pushed towards the front coming towards the last straightaway. Keegan finished a little over a second in front of the fourth place finisher to protect her position. The top three finishers in each heat automatically advanced, while the next six overall finishers advanced on time.

The quarterfinal round of the 800 meters is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. Cleirigh Buttner and Keegan are ranked second and eighth among the 24 qualifiers for the quarterfinals. The time of 2:03.33 for Cleirigh Buttner was under the previous USF stadium record, although a runner from Clemson posted a time of 2:03.20 in the first heat on Thursday to set the venue's new standard.

First on the track for the Wildcats on Thursday was McArthur, who competed in the second of four heats of the 1500 meters. She registered a personal best time of 4:19.99 to place fifth in her heat and 18th overall out of the 48 first round competitors. The top five finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times advanced to the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. McArthur settled into the middle of the pack early on and maintained her pace even while there was shuffling within the pack. Official splits showed her second in the heat after the first 300 meters seventh with two laps remaining.

By the time the bell sounded for the final lap, McArthur had established her position in the top five and the leading group of runners eventually pulled away from the rest of the pack. McArthur crossed the finish line nearly three seconds in front of the sixth place finisher of the heat.

It was just after 11 p.m. when the busy day of competition came to a close with the end of the 10000 meters. Burda, whose 14th place finish was one spot higher than last season, was in contention throughout the race for a top-12 finish and a berth in the national meet next month. She established position along the rail within the first 1000 meters and eventually settled into the middle of the pack in a smart race once the field graduatlly began to separate itself.

Burda ran three 10K races during the outdoor season, including posting a season-best time of 34:11.19 to finish as the runner-up and earn All-BIG EAST honors at the BIG EAST Championships two weeks ago. Her first outdoor race of the year came at the Raleigh Relays in late March, where she recorded a time of 34:19.67 to finish seventh out of more than 60 runners and tally a time which put her in position to qualify for this week's NCAA preliminary meet.

Ashby competed in the javelin and wrapped up a freshman season in which she became the first Villanova thrower since 2012 to qualify for the East preliminary meet. She recorded her mark of 43.39 meters on the first of her three attempts in the competition. Her first year of collegiate competition included winning the BIG EAST title in the javelin two weeks ago and capturing first place in the college section of the event at the Penn Relays last month. Her season and personal best mark of 46.16 meters at the Penn Relays puts her fourth on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the javelin.

Sixth-year senior Kelsey Margey (Huntington, N.Y.) and junior Kaley Ciluffo (LeClaire, Iowa) competed in the first round heats of the 800 meters and 1500 meters, respectively, on Thursday afternoon. Margey posted a time of 2:13.41 and placed eighth in her heat while competing at the NCAA East Preliminary for the first time in four years. She previously competed at the meet in the 800 meters as a freshman in 2013 and in the 1500 meters a year later. Margey made a successful return to competition this year as a sixth-year senior after not racing for two years prior to the start of the indoor track & field season.

Ciluffo made her debut at the preliminary meet and posted a time of 4:26.41 in her heat of the 1500 meters. She concluded a strong junior season, which included being the runner-up in the 1500 meters at the BIG EAST Championships while also running a legs on the team's conference champion 4x800 meter relay and Penn Relays champion 4x1500 meter relay.