Men Place Fourth, Women Sixth at BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships

VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Marquette University men's track team placed fourth and the women sixth in the 2023 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships at Villanova.

After two days of sunshine, the Golden Eagles competed through the rain on the final day of the BIG EAST Championships.

Six individuals and one relay team took home medals on the final day of the conference championships.

Sophomore Daylee Braden made a late push in the women's 400m to take third place with a personal best time of 55.24. She slides up to No. 5 all-time in program history.

In the 400m hurdles, Juru Okwaramoi finished in third place with a season-best time of 1:01.55. On the men's side, Mitchell Van Vooren also took third with a personal best time of 52.12. He improves his No. 2 mark on the all-time performance list.

In his first BIG EAST Championships, graduate student Adam Schommer placed third in the men's pole vault. Schommer cleared the bar at a height of 4.67 m/15-3.75 ft. to make the podium.

Sophomore Annika Bynum took the bronze medal in the women's high jump with an outdoor personal best of 1.69 m/5-6.50.

Veronica Walinski took third in the women's shot put with a personal best mark of 13.88 m/45-6.25 ft.

The men's 4x100 relay team of Samuel Casecella, Justin Juniel, Sebastian Obrzut and Julian Wright placed third with a time of 41.99. The women's team of Ja'Miah Cochran, Siani Brown-Carr, Payton Hanselman and Daylee Braden placed fourth with a time of 47.45.

MU left the conference championships with 11 medals, 10 bronze and one gold.

Other MU scorers on the day included: Kaylee Hopp (triple jump), Jared Humphrey (400m hurdles), Natalia Jackowski (high jump), Mia Ketelhohn (discus), Emma Ludwig (high jump) Zachariah Murray (400m), John Pitta (triple jump), Vinnie Voudrie (discus) and Simon Werven (pole vault).

The men's 4x800 relay team (Nathan Hirsch, Jadon Conroy, Greg Van Hollen and Cade Ferron), women's 4x400 relay team (Emily Noone, Okwaramoi, Arianna Mansavage and Braden) and the men's 4x400 realy team (Gus Kasun, Murray, Van Vooren and Wright) also scored points for the Golden Eagles.

UConn took home the titles on both the men's and women's sides.

FINAL STANDINGS:
Men:
1. UConn: 284
2. DePaul: 127
3. Villanova: 122
4. Marquette: 89
5. Butler: 88
6. Georgetown: 87
7. Providence: 33
8. Xavier: 19

Women:
1. UConn: 214.5
2. St. John's: 132.5
3. DePaul: 123.5
4. Villanova: 108
5. Georgetown: 94
6. Marquette: 57.5
7. Butler: 56
8. Providence: 49
9. Xavier: 18