May 23, 2021 –
The Villanova Wildcats have eight accepted entries competing in the NCAA Eastern Preliminary Track and Field meet in Florida later this week. The eight Wildcats will compete in nine events on Wednesday, May26th and Friday, May 28th. There will be five distance runners and two field athletes wearing the Villanova uniform with a chance to go to the NCAA Championships.
In the 1500 meters run three Wildcats will be in the event. Casey Comber, a sixth year senior, will run and was a national finalist in the event in 2019. His best time in the 1500 meters is 3:37.76. Charlie O’Donovan, a sophomore, and Sean Dolan, a freshman, will compete in the outdoor preliminary for the first time. O’Donovan’s career-mark in the event is 3:40.95 while Dolan’s fastest time at 1500 meters is 3:38.60. All three runners posted their best times at the Joe Walker Invite this past April.
Haftu Strintzos will run for the Wildcats in two events, the semifinals of 5000 meters and 10000 meters. Josh Phillips joins Strintzos in the 5000 meters semifinal. Strintzos’ best time in the 5k is 13:47.32, and Phillips covered the distance in 13:48.83 both at the Raleigh Relays in March. Strintzos’ career-time in the 10000 meters is 28:55.55 recorded at the Philly Mets.
Nick Steele qualified for the meet two times before and will competes in the 3000 meters Steeplechase. His best time in the event is 8:51.59 at the Virginia Challenge in April.
In the field Jacob Kelly qualified for the high jump. This will be his second preliminaries meet. The career-best for Kelly is a height of 2.1 meters. Cunningham recorded a long jump of 15.69 meters at the Virginia Challenge. He finished third in the Big East Championships.
The schedule of events for the Wildcats
1500 meters: First Round Wednesday 6:30 pm Quarterfinal Round Friday 5:45 pm
5000 meters: Semifinal Round Friday 8:30 pm
10000 meters: Semifinal Round Wednesday 9:10 pm
3000 meters Steeplechase: Semifinal Round Friday 6:10 pm
Long Jump: First Round Wednesday 3 pm
High Jump: First Round Friday 1 pm
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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