Purchase reserved seating tickets to the Armory Track Invitational on February 5-6 HERE.

Nicole Tully, the outdoor U.S. national champion in the 5,000 meters last spring, headlines a powerhouse field in the Invitational women’s 3,000 at the Armory Track Invitational on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 6.

Two other members of the U.S. team that competed in last year’s World Championships, Marielle Hall and Kerri Gallagher, are also in the field. Hall, the 23-year-old graduate of the University of Texas who hails from Haddonfield, N.J., was NCAA champion in the 5,000 in 2014 and has run 8:54 for 3,000.

Gallagher, a Fordham grad, was a surprise qualifier in the 1,500 last summer, running 4:03. She has run 9:07 for 3k.

Tully, who ran as Nicole Schappert at Villanova, runs for the New York Athletic Club, as did her father, Kenny. She has run 8:55 for 3,000, 15:05 for 5,000.

A limited number of reserved-seat tickets are now on sale for Saturday’s competition. They are $40 and can be purchased online through ArmoryTrack.com. All general admission tickets must be purchased at the door. Tickets are $20 a day for adults, $10 a day for students. Reserved seats on Friday are $30.

The women’s 3,000 is one of eight elite-athlete Invitational events being contested between 1 and 3 p.m. that day, part of a larger two-day event that features 75 college teams from around the country, 14 invitation-only high school events, and other Open events.   

The college teams include Ohio State, Wisconsin, Arizona, South Carolina, Boston College, Mississippi State, Duke, Miami, Tulane, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt and Hampton.

Competition Friday is 12 to 9, Saturday 9 to 6.

The other Invitational events are the men’s and women’s 800 and mile and the men’s 3,000. Also being contested are International 4x200 relays for men and women featuring teams from Canada, France, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and the United States.

In the women’s 3, in addition to Hall there are three other former NCAA champions in the field – Sheila Reid, NCAA champ for Villanova in 2011, who has run 8:44 for 3,000 and has represented Canada in the Olympics; Heather Kampf, former NCAA indoor champ in the 800 for Minnesota, who has run 4:04 for 1,500, and Leah O’Connor, 9:31 steeplechaser at Michigan State.

The top collegians in the field are Sarah DiSanza, 3^rd in the NCAA indoor 5k last winter for Wisconsin, with a best of 15:20, and Liv Westphal of Boston College, who has run in the World Juniors for France and has run 9:08.

The men’s 3k field includes the Princeton graduate Joe Stilin (7:49 3k best); Jamaican Kemoy Campbell of Arkansas (7:46); two Wisconsin team members, Maverick Darling (7:46) and Morgan McDonald (7:55), and the recent New York high school graduate Mikey Brannigan, who will be representing the NYAC.

Many in the distance races are looking for qualifying times for this year’s World Indoor Championships, scheduled for May 17-20 in Portland, Ore. The strenuous Q’s are 7:50.00 for the men and 9:00.00 for the women in the 3,000, 3:55.00/4:30.00 in the mile, 1:46.50/2:02.50 in the 8.

Find the Armory Track Invitational elite entries HERE.