JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Allison Marella and senior Ashleigh Stallings were in action on the first day of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field East Preliminary at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida. The three-day meet features the top NCAA DI performers in the eastern part of the United States.
 
This was the first time in both Marella and Stallings' careers that they qualified for the regional meet. The last Tiger to compete in an East Preliminary meet was Ashley Adams in the 2010.
 
A native of Damascus, Maryland, Marella timed 36:24.05 in the 10,000-meter run. She placed 39^th out of 48 competitors for the event. A sophomore transfer in her first season wearing the black and gold, Marella set a school record for the 10,000m run at the Raleigh Relays in March with a time of 34:37.93. Her school record performance was over a minute faster than the previous time of 35:56.68, set by Elisabeth Tauber in 2014.
 
In her final collegiate meet, Stallings posted a distance of 40.98m (134'2") to place 36^th out of 48 participants. Hailing from Owings Mills, Maryland, Stallings posted a personal-best throw of 44.90m (147'4") at the 2016 Eastern Conference Athletic Conference (ECAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championship. She won silver for the event at the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Outdoor Track & Field Championships, posting a mark of 41.20m (135'02"), which ranks second on the Tigers' All-Time Top 10 list.
 
The top performers in both the east and west region will advance to compete in the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships scheduled to run June 8-11 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.