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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2017<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">Contact- Brendan Sullivan (401) 865-1245<o:p></o:p></p>
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<b>Oakley, Paladino Qualify For Final Round Of NCAA Championships<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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Oakley and Paladino join Ilarda as qualifiers for the final round of the NCAA Championships.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><b>LEXINGTON, KY. –
</b>The Providence College track and field team competed on the final day of the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday, May 27. The Friars had athletes compete in the finals of the women’s 1,500 and the men’s and women’s
5,000 meters.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">Junior Millie Paladino (Morgantown, W. Va.) started off the meet for the Friars in first heat of the women’s 1,500 meters. Due to a quick early pace, Paladino positioned herself in
middle of the pack. She would remain in eighth place for the majority of the race until the final lap. Paladino closed the final 400 meters of the race in a blistering 65 seconds to finish in fourth place with an overall time of 4:12.54, a two second personal
best. By finishing in fourth place in her heat, Paladino automatically qualified for the final round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">The first heat of the men’s 5,000 meters saw graduate student Julian Oakley (Tauranga, New Zealand) qualify for the final round of the NCAA Championships. A slow early pace packed up
the runners through the halfway point in the race. Oakley remained in the middle of the pack, waiting for the pace to drop. The final mile proved to be the turning point in the race. Oakley closed the final mile in 4:16 to finish in fifth place and secure
an automatic qualification. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">Earlier in the evening, Catarina Rocha (Peabody, Mass.), Abbey Wheeler (Pine City, N.Y.) and Katie Lembo (Penfield, N.Y.) competed in the finals of the women’s 5,000 meters. Rocha finished
23<sup>rd</sup>, Wheeler finished 32<sup>nd</sup>, and Lembo finished 41<sup>st</sup>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">Oakley and Paladino join junior Brianna Ilarda (Perth, Australia) as qualifiers for the final round of the NCAA Championships. The final round 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: Cambria;"><b>-GO FRIARS!- <o:p></o:p></b></p>
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