Butler's Thursday Results (PDF)  |  East Preliminary Schedule 

Seniors Allie Vogeler and Johnny Leverenz have advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective events after strong performances Thursday in the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
 
Thursday's competition took place at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., in 80-degree weather. The East Preliminary continues through Saturday.
 
Vogeler started the day off for the Bulldogs as her event, the women's 400-meter hurdles, was the first event on the track. She finished in a time of 59.23, good for third in her heat behind Brittley Humphrey of LSU (59.05) and Lakeisha Warner of Clemson, who crossed the line in 59.15.
 
The top three runners from each heat, in addition to the next top six times overall, automatically advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal. Vogeler advanced by .05 of a second, which was the distance between her and Princeton's Carly Bonnet, who finished fourth in the heat. The field that opened with 48 runners has been cut to 24 after the first round, and will be cut down to 12, as the top three from each of the four quarterfinal heats plus the next three best times will advance to the semifinal in Austin at the NCAA Championships.
 
Leverenz finished fifth in his heat of the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:56.32. He advances to Saturday's quarterfinal. Nick Dahl of Yale had the fastest time in his heat, finishing in 3:55.85. The fastest men's 1,500-meter time on Thursday was run by Notre Dame's Yared Nugese, who finished in 3:45.06.
 
The top five finishers in each of the four heats automatically advance to the quarterfinal, along with the next four fastest times. Leverenz beat Kentucky's Kendall Muhammad to the line by .06 of a second to secure his spot in the quarterfinal. The quarterfinal will be run on Saturday with the race scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. The 12 who will advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin will be the top five from each of two heats, plus the next two best times.
 
Freshman Barry Keane finished 17th overall in the men's 10,000-meter semifinal with a time of 29:45.60. That was just outside the top 12 finishers who will advance to the Championships. The fastest time on Friday belonged to Alabama's Gilbert Kigen at 28:51.11. The 12^th and final qualifier was Syracuse's Iliass Aouani at 29:19.46.
 
On Friday, Clark Otte will run the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 9 p.m., in addition to Vogeler's quarterfinal run of the women's 400-meter hurdles at 7 p.m. Saturday's action will include Leverenz in the 1,500 meters, in addition to Euan Makepeace running for a spot in the Austin field in the 5,000 meters.
 
Fans will be able to stream the meet live on FloTrack with a Pro subscription by clicking here.