VILLANOVA, Pa.—Three scorers in the 5,000 meters and three athletes who are the fastest qualifier for the final of their respective events highlighted a strong day of competition for Villanova despite a cold, driving rain at the 2024 BIG EAST Track and Field Championships presented by JEEP at Villanova Stadium on Friday. Junior distance runner Sadie Sigfstead (Edmonton, Alta.) led a trio of Wildcats in the top eight of the 5K to close out the night. Villanova is in third place in the team standings with 43.5 points with 13 of the 22 events in the meet program still to be scored.
 
The junior class triumvirate of Sigfstead, Emma McGill (Lebanon, N.J.) and Margaret Carroll (Mount Wolf, Pa.) combined for 10 points in the 5,000 meters. Sigfstead came in fourth in the field of 18 runners with a time of 16:02.93, followed closely by McGill in fifth place in 16:40.45 and Carroll who came in eighth with a time of 16:40.45. Sigfstead moved up a spot from where she finished in the 5K last season, while Carroll ran her second race in as many nights after finishing seventh in the 10,000 meters on Thursday evening.
 
There were a number of highlights for the Wildcats in the preliminary heats of the sprints and middle distance events earlier Friday afternoon. Villanova produced the winner in each prelim of the 100 meter hurdles, with first year collegian Ajanae Thompson (Rahway, N.J.) the fastest qualifier for the final after she won the first heat with a personal best time of 13.73. Fifth year hurdler Jane Livingston (Lancaster, Pa.) won the second heat in 13.77 and is ranked third going into the final.
 
"This is my home track, so I know what to do and how to stay locked in," Thompson said of the dreary conditions for Friday's races. "I'm feeling so happy. I PR'd, I'm happy and the weather is…not that bad, so I'm happy about this."
 
Livingston is the only one of the 217 women's athletes in this week's championship meet who is doubling in the 100 meter hurdles and the 100 meter dash. She is the fastest qualifier for the final of the 100 meters with a time of 11.87, a PR by nearly a tenth of a second and a time which moves her from ninth to fifth on Villanova's all-time performance list.
 
"I was excited," Livingston said of how she was feeling going into the 100 meter prelim. "I just love running the 100. It's so much fun letting it go and let it rip on that straightaway. We're so excited to get after it [in Saturday's final of the 100 meter hurdles]. It's a really competitive field this year. I'm really proud of my freshman teammate Ajanae. She's doing amazing, and we're just going to go have fun and compete."
 
Villanova runners account for three of the eight qualifiers for the final of the 800 meters, including the top seed coming out of the heats in sophomore Micah Trusty (Philadelphia, Pa.) who posted a time of 2:08.51 in the second of three prelims. Junior Alex Stasichin (Massapequa, N.Y.) finished second in the final heat to earn an automatic berth in the final with a time of 2:09.81, while fifth year collegian Madison Martinez (Gahanna, Ohio) advanced on time from the first heat with a mark of 2:10.69.
 
Freshman sprinter Olivia Allen (Kingwood, Texas) and fellow first year collegian Tilly O'Connor (Spring Lake, N.J.) moved on in the 400 meter hurdles and the 1500 meters, respectively. Allen won her heat of the hurdles in 1:01.50 and O'Connor was an on-time qualifier in the 1500 meters in 4:29.97.