Bucknell University Athletics
Bison To Compete This Saturday in Patriot League Cross Country Championship
10/28/2003 7:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 28, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Following two months of races in preparation for cross country championship season in November, the Bucknell men's and women's cross country teams will head to Easton, Pa. for the first of their title tries at the Patriot League Championship, hosted by Lafayette College.
Bucknell will send 12 men and 12 women, plus one alternate, to Easton for this year's title. Last year, when the race was held at Army, the Bison placed 10 men and 11 women among the top 50 in each race, with the men finishing third and the women second, by a single point. At the start of this season, the Patriot League preseason poll ranked the Bison fourth on the men's side and third on the women's side.
The Bison men have won six Patriot League titles, from 1990-1992 and from 1997-1999, in addition to four individual champions, including Norbert Berenyi (1990), Matt Deardorff (1991), David Bronfenbrenner (1999), and Bryan Johnston (2002). The Bison women have won four Patriot League titles, from 1998-2001, and have had two runners win the individual title a total of five times. Julie Sweitzer won in 1997 and 1998, while Becki Marshall won in 1999, 2000, and 2001.
"Our men have been racing and training very consistently. The league is tougher than it has ever been with the addition of Navy, and Army and American are both very tough and Colgate looks like a darkhorse. Lehigh is so much improved as well. We were picked to finish fourth and our goal is to finish higher than our ranking. It will be a very fun day with five to six teams in the hunt for a championship," Bucknell Head Coach Kevin Donner said.
But on the women's side, the voting took place before anyone knew the Bison would have such a strong freshman class, headed by Leanna Nastase (Beaverdale, Pa./Forest Hills), Jennifer Stevens (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing Valley) and Lauren Bricker (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield). Nastase has participated in three races for the Bison, finishing in Bucknell's top three each time and having the team's best time of 18:58 in the 5K race, fourth overall, at the Detroit-Mercy Invitational in December. For those efforts, Nastase won Patriot League and ECAC Runner of the Week. Stevens finished in Bucknell's top two in her first two races, getting Bucknell's top time at the Iona Meet of Champions in September, and Bricker has finished in Bucknell's top four of all four of her races, including the Gulden Invitational where she earned Bucknell's second-best time.
"Last year's one-point loss still lingers and our women are hungry to win back the cup. I look for American to be very competitive with their front runners along with a veteran Army squad. Navy is new to the league and they have had a great season as well. It will be very close," Donner said.
The Bison women expected a strong returning class this season, which has also come through. Julie Jakoboski (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) had Bucknell's top time of 23:01 at the Gulden Invitational, while Katie Pfeifer (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) had Bucknell's top time of 22:41 at the Pre-NCAA Meet on Oct. 18. Kayla Halloran (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) was the fastest Bison in two races this year, finishing in 24:31.41 at the Lock Haven Invitational and in 22:08.76 at the Lafayette Invitational, site of this weekend's championships.
Bucknell's other entrants include alternate Kerryann Branker (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees), who finished second among Bucknell runners at Lock Haven, Alison Cole (Waterville, Maine/Waterville), who finished eighth overall at last year's Patriot League Championship, Jamie Gow (Brookline, N.H./Hollis-Brookline), who will be participating in just her second race this year after finishing 14th overall at last year's league race, Mollie Harms (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson), who ran in the Pre-NCAA Meet's open race, Lauren Kinsey (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn), Jennifer Marsh (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield), who will also be racing for just the second time this year and finished second among Bucknell runners at Lafayette this year, and Rachel Tutmaher (Sugar Grove, Pa./Eisenhower), who will be racing for the third time this season.
The question on the men's side coming into this season asked who would replace graduated runner and 2002 Patriot League individual champion Bryan Johnston. Wes Reinhardt (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) appears to be the most likely Bison to do so, having had Bucknell's best time in two races and Bucknell's second-best time in two races this season in all four races in which he has competed. Teammate Greg Costello (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) had Bucknell's top time of 26:02.3 at the Iona meet, while Ryan Delaney (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) had Bucknell's second-best time at Lafayette, and freshman Matt Forys (Howell, N.J./Howell) had Bucknell's best time in that race. Aaron Hanlon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) has finished third twice among Bison runners this year, while Dan Lounsbury (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) had Bucknell's top time of 25:00 at the Gulden Invitational. Alternate Travis Rivers (Wattsfield, Vt./Harwood Union) had Bucknell's best time of 26:44.73 had Bucknell's best time at Lock Haven, while Kevin Walsh (Drums, Pa./Bishop Hafey) had Bucknell's second-best time in that race.
Bucknell's other competitors will be Kevin Brown (Cranford, N.J./Cranford), Doug Creveling (Easton, Pa./Easton), William Duffy (Timonium, Md./Dulaney), Sean McCarthy (Moscow, Pa./North Pocono), and Stephen Schaefer (Avon by the Sea, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy).
The men's race will start at 11:00 a.m. with the women's race to follow at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Following the Patriot League Championships, the Bison will host the Mid-Atlantic Regional to take place at Lock Haven University on Nov. 15. From there, the Bison will compete in the IC4A and ECAC Championships on Nov. 22 in the Bronx, N.Y., and will shoot to run in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 24 at Northern Iowa, where the Pre-NCAA Meet was held earlier this month.
