Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colonial Relays
Track & Field Pulls Through the Colonial Relays With Several Outstanding Performances
4/7/2001 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 7, 2001
Williamsburg, Va. - This weekend at the Colonial Relays, hosted by the College of William & Mary, the Bucknell men's and women's outdoor track & field teams had several strong individual and relay performances.
On Friday, senior Ryan Stairs (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) moved into second all-time at Bucknell in the hammer throw when he tossed the weight a distance of 194' 7". His record setting toss was also strong enough to earn him first place honors in the event. Also breaking a BU record for the men was junior David Gabriel (Sayre, Pa./Athens Area) in the 200-meter dash with a time of 10.92. His time puts him seventh all-time at Bucknell in the event.
Senior Kevin Weatherill (Swedesboro, N.J./The Peddie School) didn't set any records this weekend for the Orange and Blue but he did manage to win the 10,000-meter run and 10 points for the Bison. The 10,000-meter is the longest event on the outdoor circuit and Weatherill won the grueling race in a time of 31:33.15. Earning eight points for the Bison was freshman Justin McKnight (Reedsville, Pa./Indian Valley) with a second place finish in the javelin throw. McKnight garnered the silver medal by tossing the javelin a distance of 199'.
As competition finished on Friday evening and the athletes began to prepare for Saturday's events, the Bucknell women decided to take center stage. The show started early as junior Becki Marshall (Montgomery, N.Y./Pine Bush Central) and sophomore Khadija Shariff (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby) finished second in the 5000-meter run and the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, respectively. Marshall who was just recently named the Patriot League Women's Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete moved on to the BU all-time charts in the 5000 when she ran the race in a time of 17:38.52. This time puts Marshall in the eighth slot on the all-time performers list. Already with ownership of the fastest time in Bucknell history in the 400-meter hurdle event, Shariff solidified her record by running the event in 1:01.61.
The women's relay teams faired extremely well during Saturday's competition by putting four times into Bucknell's top-ten lists. The 4X200-meter relay time moved into fifth all-time with their fifth place finish time of 1:45.33. The eighth fastest time was set in the 4X400-meter relay when the Herd finished fifth with a 3:52.55 clocking. The distance medley relay team barely slid into the top-ten with the tenth fastest time of 12:43.57. Stealing the show however was the 4X800-meter relay team with a winning time of 9:01.07. This time blows the previous Bucknell record out of first place by over two seconds.
The women's pole-vaulters continue to improve as freshmen Shannon Benson (Visalia, Calif./Golden West) and Abigail Bouzan-Kaloustia (Orrington, Maine/Brewer) moved into second and fourth all-time, respectively. Benson cleared a height of 9' 6 ?" while Bouzan-Kaloustia notched a height of 9' ?". Junior Andrea Nyce (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) won the pole vault and the ten team points by vaulting 11' 1".
Rounding out the top-ten performances for the Bison women was junior Kim Zimbal (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) in the triple jump. Zimbal hop-skip-jumped a final distance of 36' 4" to finish fourth in the event and move into seventh all-time at Bucknell.
The men's and women's track & field teams will return to Lewisburg next weekend to host the Bucknell Spring Invitational on Saturday, April 14.
