Bucknell University Athletics
Men's And Women's Cross Country Look to Repeat as Conference Champions in 2000
10/26/2000 8:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Sept. 8, 2000
LEWISBURG, PA --- On the eve of their very first race
of the 2000 season, the Bucknell men's and women's cross country
teams are confidant and eager to begin their quest to repeat as
Patriot League Champions.
Last year was a banner year for the Bucknell cross country program.
The men's team won its third straight league title and had five
all-league selections in the process. The women's team won its
second straight league crown in record fashion at Lafayette's
Metzgar Fields Course, and went on to earn an at-large berth into
the NCAA Championships. The Orange and Blue finished 24th in the
nation at the national meet, and set a precedent for this year's
strong team to shoot for.
Led by the return of three All-Patriot League performers, including
last year's individual conference champion, junior co-captain
Becki Marshall (Montgomery, N.Y./Pine Bush Central), head coach
Art Gulden is very optimistic that the Bison women will have yet
another very successful season. "Are women are as good as
last year's team ... maybe even better. The key to their success
will depend upon whether or not the kids that have to step up
do so," said Gulden, now in his 18th year as mentor of the
women's program and 31st season at the helm of the men's program.
"So far in workouts Kelly McConnell (Danville, Pa./Danville)
has been one to really step up. She has been running up at the
top, and behind her there's a solid group of four. Christina Crowe
(State College, Pa./State College), Kristin Ferrell (San Rafael,
Calif./San Francisco Univ.) and a few freshmen fall in next, but
it's too early yet to know exactly who are seven will be,"
said Gulden.
Marshall ran the second-fastest time at the Bucknell Course last
year with a 17:51.3 in the first weekend of October, and then
went on to cross the line in 18:17 at the league championships.
Gulden realizes he has a special talent in the Montgomery, New
York native. "Becki is far and away our top performer ...
in a class by herself. I'm going to have to just let her go in
meets and not hold her back because she's that good."
The other returning all-league performers are sophomores Andrea
Beisser (Ames, Iowa/Ames) and Theresa Dennis (Wilkes Barre, Pa./Hanover
Area). Beisser turned in an outstanding freshman campaign after
walking on to the team a year ago, finishing second at the championship
meet nine seconds behind Marshall. Dennis finished sixth at the
league championships.
Other returnees include three-year senior letterwinners, co-captain
Mandy Youmell (Weedsport, N.Y./Weedsport), Meg Ghiggeri (Milford,
N.J./Delaware Valley Regional) and Jessica Petermann (Amityville,
N.Y./Amityville Memorial). The juniors, in addition to Marshall,
McConnell, Crowe and Ferrell, are LaTonya McSwain (Cleveland,
Ohio/Hawken School) and Stephanie Bango (Smethport, Pa./Smethport).
The additional sophomore letterwinners returning include Michelle
Baylor (Danville, Pa./Danville Area), Nicole Lynn (Levittown,
Pa./Neshaminy), Mary Schoen (Canton, Ohio/Jackson), and Kim Simon
(Syosset, N.Y./Syosset). Gulden will also welcome nine freshmen
to the fold this year.
The men's team suffered heavy losses to graduation, but was still
picked as the preseason favorite. Gulden knows his team will be
challenged and does not necessarily agree with the prognosticators.
"I don't think I would have voted that way. We lost six runners
that finished in the Top-20 at last year's championship, and Army
returns everyone. If we have any hope to beat them, we need several
runners to step up and improve to help us close the gap."
The drive for said improvement will come from the leadership of
senior co-captains Nate Kraft (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) and Brad
Wertz (Altoona, Pa./Bellwood-Antis). "Each of those guys
leads in a different way," said Gulden. "Brad does it
with his performance, while Nate does it in other ways. Nate is
a great captain who probably won't make our top-seven, but he's
a great leader and a marvelous example to the kids in our program."
Wertz finished fifth at the Patriot League Championships last
year, and is the only all-league performer returner for the Bison.
Senior Kevin Weatherill (Swedesboro, N.J./The Peddie School),
who Gulden is also impressed with in the early workouts, just
missed all-league honors with an 11th place finish last year,
while sophomore Greg Costello (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon)
crossed the line in 13th place as a freshman.
Senior experience abounds with the return of three-year letterwinners
Dana Carr (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads), Josh Emery (Dushore,
Pa./Sullivan County), Daniel Hosey (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst)
and James Stack (Damascus, Md./Damascus). Juniors Travis Etters
(Altoona, Pa./Altoona), Michael Euell (Garnerville, N.Y./North
Rockland), Evan Honeyfield (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro) and P.J.
Ward (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) round out an upper class where
Gulden expects someone to step to the forefront this season.
"It happens every year ... two years ago it was Kearny
(Chris Kearney, all-league performer) ... last year it was
Troisi (Steve Troisi - 9th at PL championships) and Nowakowski
(7th). We need, and I expect, two or three guys to break out during
the season."
Led by Costello, seven sophomores and nine freshmen also dot the
team roster.
Bucknell has won a total of eight Patriot League cross country
titles, six on the men's side and two for the women, since the
conference began competition in 1990. Gulden and company are eager
to push that number to double digits with another sweep in 2000.
