LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Providence Friars competed on the second day at the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field East Preliminary competition on Thursday May 23 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
Junior
Kimberley May (Auckland, New Zealand), senior
Shannon Flockhart (Longstanton, England), and sophomore
Cara Laverty (Derry, Ireland) all ran in the first round of the 1,500 meters. May and Flockhart each won their respective heats and will advance to 1,500 meters quarterfinals, which will be run on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. A total of 24 of the 48 athletes advanced (top five from each heat plus the next four fastest times) from Thursday's first round to Saturday's quarterfinals. May had a very strong race, posting the top NCAA time this year as she finished in 4:07.00. It also was a program and facility record. Flockhart ran the sixth fastest time of the day, finishing in 4:12.94. Laverty finished her 1,500 meters in a time of 4:23.83.
Freshman
Maeve O'Neill (Cork, Ireland) and graduate student
Alex O'Neill (Ennis, Ireland) each competed in the 800 meters.
Maeve O'Neill ran a personal best time of 2:04.89 and qualified for the quarterfinals on Saturday as she ran the 19
th best time in the 800.
Alex O'Neill ran a time of 2:10.16. A total of 24 of the 48 athletes who ran the race advance to Saturday's quarterfinal race, which will be held at 7:05 p.m.
Also scheduled to compete for the Friars on Thursday were seniors
Laura Mooney (Cappincur, Ireland) and
Lilly Tuck (Sunderland, Ontario) in the semifinals of the 10,000 meters. However due to inclement weather, the race has been delayed and may get postponed until Friday.
The Friars will return to action on Friday when senior
Pat Thygesen (Brisbane, Australia) will run the 3,000 meter steeplechase quarterfinal at 5:40 p.m.