NEW HAVEN, CT - The Iona University men's and women's outdoor track and field team competed at the Yale Elite Last Chance Meet for a final opportunity to acquire qualifying times for the upcoming NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The event took place Saturday at Yale's Cuyler Athletic Complex. Sophomore Aiden Coles led the men with a first place finish in the 1500-meter event while junior Holly Smith led the women in third place in the 5k.

MEN'S 1,500-METER RUN

Coles finished first overall in the 1,500-meter event posting a personal best time of 3:41.91. He lowered his previous personal best by .23 seconds set earlier this season at the Wake Forest Invitational and moved up to No. 4 on the Gaels' All-Time Performance list behind teammate Damien Dilcher (3:39.42, 2024), Mael Gouyette (3:40.48, 2023) and Tim Bayley (3:41.66, 2006) and ahead of Brian Roche (3:42.00, 1982) and Ehab El-Sandali (3:42.31, 2022).
 
Senior Nick Soldevere finished ninth in 3:51.01. His season-best time of 3:47.54 came at the Raleigh Relays and personal best time of 3:45.40 came at the same meet last season.

WOMEN'S 5000-METER RUN

Smith's third place finish in the women's 5,000-meter event saw a time of 16:14.88. It was her second fastest 5k effort of the season, shy of a 16:11.75 at Penn Relays, a top five time on Iona's all-time performance list.

MEN'S 5000-METER RUN

Sophomore Tadhg Donnelly and Soldevere finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth place in the men's 5,000-meter event. Donnelly posted a 14:18.67 while Soldevere crossed in 14:22.27 in his first collegiate outdoor 5k effort.

WOMEN'S 400-METER RUN

Sophomore Nadine Jefremow finished fifth in the 400-meter run, posting a 1:01.35. Her season-best time of 1:00.03 came in the MAAC Championship preliminary heats and stands at No. 3 on the Gaels' all-time performance list.

RESULTS

WOMEN

400: Nadine Jefremow, 5th, 1:01.35. 5k: Holly Smith, 3rd, 16:14.88.

MEN

1500: Aiden Coles, 1st, 3:41.91; Nick Soldevere, 9th, 3:51.01. 5k: Tadhg Donnelly, 7th, 14:18.67; Nick Soldevere, 8th, 14:22.27.

UP NEXT

The Gaels await selections and seeding for the 2024 NCAA East Preliminary rounds which takes place May 22-25 in Lexington, KY, hosted by the University of Kentucky at UK Track & Field Complex.

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