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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2017</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Contact- Brendan Sullivan (401) 865-1245</p>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Eight Track Athletes Qualify For First Round of NCAA Championships</b></p>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The First Round will take place in Lexington, Ky. on May 25-27.</i></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">PROVIDENCE, R.I. –
</b>The NCAA announced qualifiers for the First Round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, May 18. The Friars had eight athletes qualify for the Championship.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">The First Round is split into two regions, the East and the West. In each region, the top 48 declared athletes in each event qualify for the First Round. The East Region will take place
in Lexington, Ky. while the West Region will take place in Austin, Texas. Both meets will take place on May 25-27. The top 12 finishers in each event will qualify for the NCAA Championship Finals, which will be held in Eugene, Ore. on June 6-10.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Junior Brianna Ilarda (Perth, Australia) enters the First Round of the NCAA Championships seeded third in 3,000-meter Steeplechase in the East Region. This year, Ilarda has had a stellar
track season. She opened up her outdoor season by running a time of 15:46.90 in the 5,000 meters to finish fourth at the Stanford Invitational. She then became the first woman to win back-to-back Penn Relay titles in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase after she
won with a time of 9:57.22. At the BIG EAST Championships, she defended her title in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase by running 9:56.33. That time broke the BIG EAST Meet record in the event which had been held by Friar great, Roisin McGettigan ’03.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Junior Millie Paladino (Morgantown, W. Va.) is seeded fourth in the East Region in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:14.76. Paladino ran her seed time when she finished second in the
1,500 meters at the Stanford Invitational. This season, she has run 2:09.52 in the 800 meters and 16:23.58 in her debut in the 5,000 meters. Paladino last competed at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, where she finished fifth in the 1,500 meters.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Graduate Student Julian Oakley (Tauranga, New Zealand) will be competing in the 5,000 meters. It is the third time that Oakley has qualified for the First Round of the NCAA Championships.
Oakley enters the meet seeded 13<sup>th</sup>. This season, he finished fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:43.03 at the Larry Ellis Invitational. He made his debut in the 5,000 meters at the Penn Relays where he finished third with a time of 13:55.45.
At the BIG EAST Championships, Oakley finished third in the 1,500 meters. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Senior Hugh Armstrong (Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland) will be competing in the 10,000 meters. It is the second time that Armstrong has qualified for the First Round of the NCAA Championships.
He qualified after running a time of 29:23.29 at the Stanford Invitational. This season, he ran a time of 14:18.63 in the 5,000 meters at the Penn Relays and finished eighth in the same event at the BIG EAST Championships.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Sophomore Nick Carleo (Newburyport, Mass.) will be competing in the 1,500 meters. He qualified for the meet after running a time of 4:04.54 in the mile, which converts to a 3:46.42,
at the Brown Springtime Invitational. This is the first time that Carleo has qualified for the First Round of the NCAA Championships.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Freshman Abbey Wheeler (Pine City, N.Y.) qualified in the 5,000 meters when she ran a time of 16:10.70 at the Stanford Invitational. At the BIG EAST Championships, Wheeler finished
fourth in the 5,000 meters.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Senior Catarina Rocha (Peabody, Mass.) will be competing in the 5,000 meters. Rocha achieved her qualifying time when she finished fourth with a time of 16:30.15 at the ECAC Championships.
This season, Rocha won the 5,000 meters at the Ocean State Invitational and finished third in the 5,000 meters at the BIG EAST Championships.
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Junior Katie Lembo (Penfield, N.Y.) will be competing in the 5,000 meters. She qualified after running a time of 16:30.79 at the Stanford Invitational. Most recently, she finished sixth
in the 10,000 meters at the BIG EAST Championships. This is the third time that Lembo has qualified for the First Round of the NCAA Championships.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">Junior Thomas O’Neill (Middletown, N.J.) is currently ranked 49<sup>th</sup> and is the first alternate in the 10,000 meters. He will compete if there are any scratches in this event.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">-GO FRIARS!-
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