NEW YORK—Freshman pole vaulter Ashley Preston (Franklinville, N.J.) became the fourth athlete in school history to clear four meters in the pole vault and won her second career conference gold medal on the first day of competition at the BIG EAST Championships at Icahn Stadium on Friday.  Preston added to her indoor BIG EAST title with a new personal best, part of a terrific team performance which has Villanova in first place atop the team standings going into the final day of competition on Saturday.  The top two teams are currently the Wildcats (145 points) and Marquette (107), with no other team scoring more than 63 points in Friday's action.
 
Preston was one of five Wildcats who scored in the pole vault, and Villanova finished Friday's action with four athletes who made the awards podium in their respective events.  Sophomore thrower Taryn Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) defended her BIG EAST title in the pole vault and graduate student Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.) was the champion of the 10000 meters.  Freshman Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) was the runner-up in the 3000 meter steeplechase and senior Alex Patrick (Media, Pa.) added a third place finish in the long jump with a personal best mark of 5.60 meters.
 
In addition to the first place finish by Preston in the pole vault, sophomore Cala Lejman (Ambler, Pa.) was fourth with a personal best height of 3.71 meters.  Senior Adeline Scelzi (Glen Allen, Va.) and sophomore Amanda McNelis (Commack, N.Y.) each cleared the bar at 3.56 meters to come in fifth and sixth, while sophomore Samantha Bragen (Toms River, N.J.) came in eighth with a height of 3.26 meters.
 
Ashby won the javelin with a throw of 43.32 meters, while freshman Liv Morgan (Bronx, N.Y.) placed fourth with a personal best throw of 40.37 meters.  Morgan is also currently in second place in the heptathlon with four of the seven events contested.  The senior duo of Sofia Calabrese (Edwards, Colo.) and Niki Cleary (Flemington, N.J.), along with junior Ava Coleman (Southington, Conn.), are also competing in the heptathlon. 
 
One of the first events contested early on Friday morning was the long jump, in which Patrick tallied the best jump of her career to earn a spot on the awards podium.  She was followed by junior Gloria Donou (East Brunswick, N.J.) in fourth place (5.50 meters), while freshman Trinity Hart (Scotch Plains, N.J.) was sixth (5.39 meters) and sophomore Jennifer Barbour (Middletown, Conn.) 13^th (5.11 meters). 
 
Following the preliminary heats of the running events, the 3000 meter steeplechase and the 10000 meters took center stage.  Olivere, competing in only the second steeplechase race of her career, posted a time of 10:22.93 to finish in second place.  She lowered her time from earlier this season by nearly six full seconds and was one of several Villanova athletes who improved their current standing for the NCAA East Preliminary meet later this month. 
 
Alcorta won the 10000 meters in 34:42.28, while senior Bella Burda (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) was third in 36:44.35.
 
During the preliminaries of the other running events, the Wildcats had the top qualifiers in the 100 meters and the 1500 meters.  Sophomore sprinter Trudy-Ann Williamson (Kingston, Jamaica) led the field in the 100 meters in 11.76, while also recording a personal best time of 24.06 in the 200 meters to come in as the second-fastest qualifier for tomorrow's final.  Sophomore distance runner Lauren Ryan (South Yarra, Australia), who is doubling in the 1500 meters and the 5000 meters this weekend, ran out to a big lead and never looked back in her heat of the 1500 on Friday.  She won in 4:23.32 to lead the group of qualifiers for tomorrow's championship race. 
 
Senior distance runner Sammy Bockoven (Hudson, Ohio) and junior Ann Campbell (Mission Hills, Kan.) were also qualifiers in the 1500 meters, while junior Danielle Burns (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore Sarah Jones (Sewell, N.J.) advanced in the 100 meter hurdles.  Burns was also a qualifier in the 400 meter hurdles later in the day.  Junior Amari Onque-Shabazz (Plainfield, N.J.) and freshman Reilly Siebert (Syosset, N.Y.) moved on to the final of the 800 meters.