Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track, Swim Teams to Prepare for Patriot League Championships
2/13/2002 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 13, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Both the Bucknell track & field and swimming & diving teams will compete in the Patriot League Championships this weekend.
The track & field championships will take place from Friday through Sunday at Army, and the swimming & diving competition will be held at Navy from Thursday through Saturday.
Bucknell's women's indoor track team, the Patriot League champion from 1998-2000, is looking to reclaim the league title after losing to Navy last season. The Bison return a pair of individual champions - senior Stephanie Bango and sophomore Jamie Lilien -- from last season's championship, as well as six other athletes who competed on winning relay teams.
Bango was named as the Female Track Athlete of the Meet at last season's championship after winning the 400m dash, 800m run and anchoring the victorious 1,600 and 3,200m relay teams. She is enjoying another outstanding season this year, and is currently ranked 28th in the nation in the 800 meters at 2:09.08.
Lilien will look to defend her 55m hurdles title, while seniors LaTonya McSwain and Kelly McConnell each return after competing on two different winning relay teams last year. McSwain helped Bucknell win both the 1,600 and 3,200m relays a year ago and will be counted in those same events this year. McConnell ran a leg on the 3,200m relay and distance medley relays that took home the gold last season. She is also running well this year after recording the second-best mile time (4:55.74) in school history last week at the Armory Collegiate Invitational.
Junior Khadija Shariff, senior Christie Wolfgang, junior Nicki Piper and junior Michelle Baylor also return as winning relay members. Shariff and Wolfgang each ran a leg on the 1,600m relay team, while Piper and Baylor were part of the distance medley relay squad.
The Bison men's track & field team is hoping to put an end to Army's eight-year reign as league champion. Bucknell has finished second to the Black Knights at each of the past seven indoor championships.
Junior Greg Costello and senior David Gabriel will be expected to lead Bucknell as returning league champions. Costello claimed the gold in the 3,000m run last season, and Gabriel placed first in the 200m dash. Sophomore Noel Powell is also a threat to win the long jump after breaking the Bucknell record (24'9 ?") and provisionally for the NCAA Championships in the event earlier this season. Powell finished second in the 200m dash and third in the long jump at last year's championship.
Results from the track & field championships can be obtained from Army's athletic website, www.goARMYsports.com at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The Bucknell women's swimming & diving team is has been performing extremely well recently, and is coming off three consecutive Patriot League victories, including a win over defending league champion Lehigh. The Bison feature three all-league performers -- sophomore Daniela Faas, junior Darby Golino and senior Abby Weaver -- from last season's team that finished just 38.5 points behind Lehigh at the Patriot League Championship. In addition, head coach Jerry Foley is equipped with a pair of outstanding freshmen and a sophomore diver who have already established four different Bucknell records this season.
Faas gives the Bison a solid option at the 500 free, an event in which she finished second at last year's championship. Golino returns after taking third in both the 100 and 200 back a year ago, and Weaver is back after placing fourth in the 200 IM, fifth in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 free.
Freshmen Jackie Feinthel and Jamie Flick will also look to continue their record-breaking performances at their first Patriot League Championship. Feinthel broke the Bucknell record in the 1,000 free (10:30.19) earlier this season, and Flick has claimed school records in the 100 breast (1:06.64) and 200 breast (2:25.33).
Sarah Petcavage will pose a threat for the Bison in the diving events after setting the school record in the 3 meter for 11 options (345.85) earlier this season.
The men's swimming team is aiming to improve on their third-place finish at last season's championship. Senior Chris Neary and sophomore Peter Garvin return as all-league performers, while Stephen Schwanhausser, Jack Sheehan, Matt Hallowell and Adam Freeman have all broken into the school's all-time top-10 lists.
Neary won the gold in both the 50 free and 100 fly at last season's championship, while Garvin came away with 46 points after taking third in the 100 free and fourth in the 50 free and 200 free. Schwanhausser set the new Bucknell record in the 200 breast (2:07.08) at last season's championship and finished fifth in the event.
Sophomores Sheehan and Hallowell will aid Bucknell in the individual medley events. Sheehan enters the championship ranked third all-time at Bucknell in the 400 IM and seventh in the 200 IM, while Hallowell, also a sophomore, ranks seventh in the 400 IM and ninth in the 200 IM.
Freeman provides the Bison with a solid performer in the diving events. As a freshman, he has climbed into the school's top-10 charts in the 1 meter (sixth, 252.45) and 3 meter (eighth, 240.37).
During each day of the championships, preliminary events will begin at 10:30 a.m. with finals starting at 6 p.m. Results can be obtained from Navy's athletic website, www.navysports.com.
