<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"><!-- P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} --></style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div id="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt;color:#000000;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">
<p></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 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>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">
<b>Ilarda Qualifies For Finals Of Steeplechase At NCAA Championships<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">
<i>Ilarda finished fourth in her heat to secure an automatic spot in the final.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">
<i> </i></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;"><b>EUGENE, ORE. –
</b>The Providence College women’s track and field team had two athletes compete on the second day of competition at the final round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, June 8.
<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 Brianna Ilarda (Perth, Australia) raced in the first heat of the 3,000-meter Steeplechase. Ilarda positioned herself towards the front of the pack early in the race, taking the
lead on multiple occasions. She was part of a lead pack of four that broke away from the rest of the field with a mile remaining. She would finish fourth in her heat with a time of 9:57.04 to earn an automatic qualifier for the finals on Saturday, June 10.<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;">Earlier in the meet, junior Millie Paladino (Morgantown, W.Va.) raced in the second heat of the women’s 1,500. The race was a tactical one from the beginning, as the entire field remained
bunched together for the majority of the race. Paladino would finish 12<sup>th</sup> in her heat and will not advance to the finals.<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;">Graduate Student Julian Oakley (Tauranga, New Zealand) will race for the Friars on day three of the championships. Oakley will compete in the 5,000 meters at 10:25 p.m. ET on Friday,
June 9.<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;"><b>-GO FRIARS!- </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<br>
<p></p>
<div id="Signature">
<div id="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="font-size:12pt; color:#000000; background-color:#FFFFFF; font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
<p></p>
</div>
</div>
<style type="text/css" style="display:none"> <!-- p {margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0} --> </style></div>
</body>
</html>