Eleanor Mancini of La Salle Cruises to Victory in Women’s 10,000 Meters to Qualify for NCAA Final
May 25, 2023 –
At Day 2 of the NCAA East Outdoor meet the women began their quest at the East Regional at the Hodges Track in Jacksonville, FL. The meet and the Philly college highlight was the performance of La Salle senior Eleanor Mancini who easily won the 10,000 Meters run defeating her nearest rival by over 5 seconds.
Mancini qualifies for a starting spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, TX.
Mancini’s Performance
In a national semifinal the idea was to finish in the top-twelve to get to Austin. Mancini had other ideas. She ran a time of 33:13.35 to easily defeat the field. Early in the race Mancini and Ava Nuttall of Miami of Ohio raced out to a big lead. At one point they were ahead of the chase pack by nearly the length of a straightaway over the next three runners. At close to the 24 minute (around 7000m) mark of the run Mancini took the lead and would not be challenged. Slowly, the chase pack inched into her lead. Mercy Chelangat of Alabama got second place covering the distance in 33:18.49. Her teammate Hilda Olemomoi finished just behind at 33:21.71. Amanda Vestri of Syracuse was fourth running a 33:23.74. Nuttall placed fifth hitting the tape in 33:23.97.
Three other Philly college athletes participated in the race, but did not finish in the top-twelve. Maeve Stiles of Penn placed 16th with a time of 34:12.17. Villanova runners Sadie Sigfstead (24th place – 34:32.47) and Ariana Gardizy (45th place – 36:11.87) rounded out the Philly part of the field.
800 Meters Run
Four local runners took to the starting line in four different heats in the first round. The top three finishers in each heat plus the next six fastest times would move on to the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Madison Martinez of Villanova was an automatic qualifier finishing second in her heat running a time of 2:06.53. Fellow Wildcat Micah Trusty qualified on time with a 2:06.18. Browyn Patterson of Penn also got through the next round with a 2:06.07 effort. La Salle’s Christine Mancini, sister of Eleanor, will not move on as she posted a time of 2:07.91.
1500 Meters Run
Laura Nicholson of Temple will run on Saturday in this event. She finished fifth in her heat to be an automatic qualifier running a time of 4:20.54. Her time is the twelfth fastest overall.
400 Meters Run
Isabella Whittaker ran a time of 53.69 in her heat to advance to the Saturday quarterfinal. The top three finishers in each heat plus the next six fastest times moved on to the next race. Whittaker took third place in her race.
Other Athletes
In the field events no Philly College athletes qualified to advance. In the pole vault Temple’s Allie Riches cleared the bar at 3.97m to place 23rd. Ashley Preston of Villanova was 36th with a height of 3.82m. Penn’s Nataliia Ilieva missed on her first three attempts to register no height.
Olivia Morgan of Villanova placed 36th in the Javelin with a throw of 42.82 meters and did not finish in the top-twelve that will go to Austin.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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