CHESTER, Pa.—Freshman pole vaulter Ashley Preston (Franklinville, N.J.) led a group of five Villanova athletes who competed in the pole vault at the Danny Curran Invitational on Saturday morning.  Preston and sophomore Amanda McNelis (Commack, N.Y.) each cleared the bar at a height of 3.60 meters in the local meet at Leslie C. Quick, Jr. Stadium. 
 
All five of the Wildcats who were in action on Saturday finished in the top seven overall.  Preston came into the competition with the bar at 3.45 meters, and was successful at that height and at 3.60 meters on her first attempts.  When the bar was moved to 3.60 meters, only the Villanova quartet of Preston, McNelis, senior Adeline Scelzi (Glen Allen, Va.) and sophomore Cala Lejman (Ambler, Pa.) remained. 
 
McNelis was successful at 3.60 meters on her third and final try to finish in second place, while Scelzi was third and Lejman was fourth with heights of 3.45 meters.  Sophomore Samantha Bragen (Toms River, N.J.) competed in the pole vault for the first time as a collegian and came in seventh with a height of 3.15 meters.  She has previously competed in the triple jump for the Wildcats, but has pole vault experience from high school and cleared a height of 3.35 meters as a scholastic athlete.