VILLANOVA, PA. - Butler senior Mara Olson put an emphatic exclamation point on her return to the track at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championship Presented by New York Life on Friday.  The three-time All-American captured Butler's first individual title at this year's competition

Olson won the 10,000 meter run on the Jumbo Elliott Track at Villanova Stadium with a time of 34:27.01, out-kicking fellow All-Americans Madeline Chambers of Georgetown (34:28.94) and Laura Nagel of Providence (34:33.15) and showing no signs of being slowed by the injury she'd been battling since the indoor season. The race was her first since dropping out of the DI Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

Sophomore Olivia Pratt clocked 35:02.59 for 6th in the 10K, and first year Rebekah Bosler was 16th in 41:16.87.

Senior Nicole Hudec earned a BIG EAST medal with a runner-up finish in the women's long jump.  She shattered the school record in the event with a jump of 5.81 meters (19-00.75).

Colleen Weatherford also made the podium for the women. The sophomore clocked 10:45.86 for 3rd in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Junior Laura Riches was 10th in 11:41.84.

Sophomore Bettine Gibbs took 15th in the 400 meter dash prelims with a time of 1:03.53 and Lauren Bloom took 10th in the 100 meter hurdles in 17.29. Freshman Samantha Johnson was 9th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:12.28. 

Rookie Jackie Dubnicak qualified for the 1500 meter run finals with a 10th place finish and a time of 4:33.77 and will race in the finals on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Kristen Seiler clocked 4:37.86 and classmate Maddie Westerhoff 4:39.50 for 15th and 16th place in that same race.

On the men's side, freshman Harry Winter just missed podium honors but was the highest scorer for the Butler men on Friday. He took 4th in the 3,000 meter steeple, clocking 9:19.91. Fellow freshman Ethan Wagner was 9th in 9:33.89.

Freshman Bobby Johnson and junior James Martin both scored in the 10K. Johnson was 6th in 31:01.29, with Martin following in 7th in 31:20.42. Freshman Matt Lumbar took 12th in 32:08.74.

Freshman Graham Stecz finished in 15th in the 400 meter dash prelims. Classmates Johnny Leverenz and Malik Mahmud were 17th and 18th in the 800 prelims, clocking 1:56.51 and 1:57.18, respectively.

In the field, freshman Dakota Thompson placed eighth in the high jump (1.91 meters), while second-year performer Andrew Shroyer took 10th place in the long jump with a leap of 5.89 meters.

Butler is currently in 5th in the women's team scoring, while the men are in 7th place.

The BIG EAST indoor championships continue Saturday with the continuation of the decathlon at 10 a.m. and field events beginning at 11 a.m. Running finals commence at 3 p.m. EST and are being live streamed by BIG EAST Digital at bigeast.com.

Contact:  Bethany Werge (bwerge@u.northwestern.edu)