Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track Teams Prepare for Patriot League Outdoor Championship
5/2/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 2, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's and women's outdoor track & field teams will have their sights set high when they travel to Lehigh University's Goodman Track for the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Friday and Saturday.
Led by first-year head coach Kevin Donner, the Bison women's team is searching for its fourth straight Patriot League outdoor track title. A league championship would also give the Bison 11 league titles in 12 meets in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field over the last four years.
Bucknell's men's team has finished second at the Patriot League Championship in each of the past four seasons, and will take its best shot at dethroning Army, a team that won its 10th straight outdoor title last spring.
American, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh, Holy Cross and Navy will also contend for the title in both the men's and women's championships.
On the women's side, BU returns 13 all-league performers, led by senior middle distance specialist Stephanie Bango. A 20-time Patriot League gold medalist, Bango has enjoyed a stellar outdoor season thus far in which she reset her own school record in the 800-meter run twice and helped establish a new Bucknell record in the 1,600-meter relay. She is seeded second in both the 400 and the 800 heading into the championship.
Seniors LaTonya McSwain and Kelly McConnell will also bolster the Bison in the middle distance events. Both athletes ran on BU's 3,200-meter relay team that won the league title a year ago. McSwain is currently the league's third seed in the 800-meter run, while McConnell has run the league's fastest time in the 1,500-meter run.
In the distance events, look for seniors Becki Marshall, Chris Crowe, Kristin Ferrell and junior Theresa Dennis to make their presence felt. Marshall, the defending outdoor league champion in the 5,000-meter run, is currently ranked third in the event. Crowe won the silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last season, but is the league's top seed this year. Dennis and Ferrell are seeded first and second, respectively, in the 10,000-meter run.
Bucknell boasts two other defending conference champions in senior Khadija Shariff (400-meter hurdles) and sophomore Maria Garcia (hammer). The Bison also return Patriot League Indoor Track & Field all-league performers in junior Nicki Piper (middle distance), freshman Amy Calvo (sprints), senior Samantha Klotz (pole vault), freshman Rehana Lanewala (sprints) and senior Kim Zimbal (jumps).
The Bison men's team returns five all-league performers from last season's outdoor championship, including sophomore Noel Powell and junior Greg Costello. Powell, an indoor NCAA-qualifier in the long jump, claimed the silver in the long jump, 200-meter dash and 400-meter relay last spring. He checks in for the outdoor championship seeded first in the long jump, second in the 200 and third in the 100. A 2001 NCAA Cross Country Championship participant, Costello is the reigning outdoor conference champion in the 5,000-meter run. Costello is ranked second in the 10,000 and third in the 5,000.
Other all-leaguers returning from last season's outdoor championship include senior David Gabriel (sprints), junior Matt Solomon (sprints) and sophomore Justin McKnight (javelin). Junior Eric Furst and senior P.J. Ward, 2002 Patriot League indoor all-league selections, will supply the Bison with talent in the middle distance events.
The championship will get underway on Friday with field events starting at 3 p.m. and track events kicking off at 3:30. The meet will conclude on Saturday with finals in both the track and field events starting at 11 a.m.
