Complete Results (PDF)

Sophomore Wade Walder put together one of the best weekend's in Butler track and field history with a sterling performance at the 2018 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Walder was the Championships' High Point Performer with 23 points. He was also named the Most Outstanding Field Performer.

The two-day Championships concluded Saturday at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Butler's men placed fifth in the seven-team championships, while the Bulldogs' women finished sixth among eight teams.

Teams endured lightning delays and pouring rain on the final day of the Championships. Marquette won the men's title with 230.50 points, while the Villanova women posted 196 points to capture the team trophy.

Walder defended his decathlon title, winning the event with a new Butler record 7,020 points. Teammate Richard Clark was third (6,282 points), while Matt Fisch finished sixth (5,511 points). Walder broke his own school record by more than 700 points. Clark also topped Walder's school record of 6,265 points set at the 2017 BIG EAST Championships.

In decathlon events Saturday, Walder won the 110-meter hurdles, discus, javelin, and the 1,500-meter run. The only event he didn't capture was the pole vault, where he was second.

Walder also took fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.18. Garrett Kern was eighth at 16.14. DePaul's Kyle Decker claimed the top spot in 14.56. On Friday, Walder claimed points for the Bulldogs in the javelin (second) and pole vault (eighth).

Johnny Leverenz highlighted the Butler effort with a win in the 1,500 meters. The pace Saturday was slower than Friday's preliminaries. Leverenz won the event in 4:02.93 Saturday after qualifying Friday with a time of 3:52.66.

The Bulldogs took three of the top eight spots in the 5,000 meters. Senior Bobby Johnson was fourth at 14:32.78, while Jonathan Collier (14:43.21) and Matt Lumbar (14:44.89) were seventh and eighth, respectively. That trio all registered points in Friday's 10,000 meters.

Clark and Tim Vestuto were 6-7 in the 100 meters Saturday. Clark crossed the line in 10.95 followed by Vestuto at 11.02.

In Saturday's relays, Butler took second in the 4x800 as Chandler McGaha, Daniel Garcia, Eric Baugh and Leverenz combined for a time of 7:39.56. The Bulldogs started the day by taking fourth in the 4x100 (41.99). Butler finished the championships with a fourth-place showing in the 4x400 relay, posting a time of 3:19.09.

For the second day in a row, Allie Vogeler crossed the line first and broke her own Butler mark in the 400-meter hurdles. On Saturday, she crossed the line in 58.25, bettering her prelims time of 58.88 from Friday. Over the last two days, Vogeler has shaved 1.22 off her school record. Georgetown's Shannon Meisberger was second in 59.88.

Josephine Thestrup took fourth in the 1,500 meters. Her time of 4:28.13 trailed only three runners from Villanova. Nicole Hutchinson won in 4:19.87. Later in the day, Thestrup placed eighth in the 5,000 meters in a time of 17:10.03. Hutchinson won the event in 16:18.07.

Butler's women got off to a strong start on Saturday, posting a new school record in the first running event of the afternoon. The Bulldogs' quartet of Lizzie Rupkey, Lily Hess, Ariel Higgins and Carson Fields finished in 48.13. That was good for sixth in the Championships. Butler also took fifth in the 4x800 relay (9:11.58) and fifth in the 4x400, with a time of 3:56.36. The 4x400 relay team of Madeline Miller, Emma Laux, Vogeler and Fields took .20 off the previous school record, which stood since 2002.

Junior Elaine Warner placed fifth in the heptathlon, coming in with 3,951 points. That is a new Butler record. Eboni Birch of St. John's won the event (4,462 points).

Fields, a freshman, capped off her first championships with a sixth-place finish in the 100 meters. She posted a time of 12.16, which was just .02 off her school record set earlier in the season.

The Bulldogs will now wait to see the qualifying lists for the NCAA Regionals with Vogeler and Leverenz, among others, in contention.

Men - Team Rankings (22 Events Scored) 

1. Marquette (234.50) 
2. Villanova (183.50)
3. DePaul (132) 
4. Georgetown (111)
5. Butler (103) 
6. Providence (49)
7. Xavier (32)

 
Women - Team Rankings (22 Events Scored)

1. Villanova (196) 
2. DePaul (171)
3. Marquette (162) 
4. St. John's (141)
5. Georgetown (90) 
6. Butler (36)
7. Providence (29) 
8. Xavier (27)

BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Men's: Marquette
Women's: Villanova
 
BIG EAST Championship Outstanding Track Field Performer
Men's: Amos Bartelsmeyer, Georgetown
Women's: Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova
 
BIG EAST Championship Outstanding Field Performer
Men's: Wade Walder, Butler
Women's: Jade Gates, DePaul
 
BIG EAST Championship High Point Performer Award
Men's: Wade Walder, Butler - 23 points
Women's: Taylor Williams, Georgetown – 21.5 points
 
2018 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Event Winners
Men's
100-meter Dash: Sterling Pierce, Villanova – 10.60^
200-meter Dash: Nate Alleyne, Georgetown – 21.11
400-meter Dash: Brian Faust, Villanova – 47.28
800-meter Run: Amos Bartelsmeyer, Georgetown – 1:49.50
1,500-meter Run: Johnny Leverenz, Butler – 4:02.93
5,000-meter Run: Casey Comber, Villanova – 14:23.57
10,000-meter Run: Nicholas Golebiowski, Georgetown – 30:10.36
110-meter Hurdles: Kyle Decker, DePaul – 14.56*^
400-meter Hurdles: Keegan Hughes, Villanova – 53.13
3,000-meter Steeplechase: Nick Steele, Villanova – 9:10.39
4x100-meter Relay: DePaul – 41.17
4x400-meter Relay: Villanova – 3:12.12
4x800-meter Relay: Georgetown – 7:38.39
High Jump: Daniel Armstrong, Marquette – 2.16m*
Long Jump: Samuel Johnson, Marquette – 7.00m
Triple Jump: Brian Mada, DePaul – 15.38m*^
Pole Vault: Joel Swanberg, Marquette – 4.95m
Hammer Throw: Brendan McKinney, Marquette – 56.88m
Javelin: Jack Judge, Villanova – 65.28m
Shot Put: Kyle Hedge, DePaul – 16.64m*
Discus: Bryan Bjerk, Georgetown – 54.57m
Decathlon: Wade Walder, Butler – 7020 points*
 
Women's
100-meter Dash: Taylor Williams, Georgetown – 11.81
200-meter Dash: Taylor Williams, Georgetown – 24.17
400-meter Dash: Maya Stephens, St. John's – 53.40*
800-meter Run: Siofra Cleirigh Buttner, Villanova – 2:06.79^
1,500-meter Run: Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova – 4:19.87
5,000-meter Run: Nicole Hutchinson, Villanova – 16:18.07
10,000-meter Run: Catarina Rocha, Providence – 33:39.43
100-meter Hurdles: Alexia Brooks, DePaul – 13.50
400-meter Hurdles: Allie Vogeler, Butler – 58.25*
3,000-meter Steeplechase: Margie Cullen, Georgetown – 10:33.42
4x100-meter Relay: DePaul – 46.14
4x400-meter Relay: DePaul – 3:43.98
4x800-meter Relay: Villanova – 8:50.10
High Jump: Caroline Muller, DePaul – 1.65m
Pole Vault: Amanda McNelis, Villanova – 3.55m
Long Jump: Erica Graham, St. John's – 5.86m^
Triple Jump: Terica Harris, Marquette – 12.60m*
Shot Put: Emily Eller, DePaul – 14.44m
Javelin: Taryn Ashby, Villanova – 45.28m
Hammer Throw: Jade Gates, DePaul – 53.73m
Discus: Keely Knobbe, Marquette – 42.81m
Heptathlon: Eboni Birch, St. John's – 4462 points
 
*2017 BIG EAST Outdoor Champion
^2016 BIG EAST Outdoor Champion