Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track and Field Hosts Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Meet This Weekend
2/18/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 18, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's track and field athletes have had a record-breaking indoor season this year, making this just the year to have all of their Patriot League counterparts try to pry the league crown from their grasp at Gerhard Fieldhouse this weekend. At present, the Bucknell top-10 lists on the women's side have 20 changes from the beginning of the season, while Bucknell's men have twice broached top-10 lists where numerous entries from as far back as the 1970s still stand.
The men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon will begin on Friday at noon and 12:15 p.m., respectively. Bucknell's top entry on the men's side figures to be Mike Mellas, a multi-event athlete who had the best showing of any Bucknell athlete at the Bison Open and Pentathlon Jan. 30-31. Four of the seven events will be contested on Friday, with the last three to take place Saturday morning at 8:45. On the women's side, Patriot League foes will have to contend with Danielle Todman, who had the top Bucknell finish and third-best overall score at the January meet. Megan Frederick, who has put her name on the shot put and pole vault top-10 lists this year, also figures to take part.
The weekend's field events will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. with the women's long jump, men's high jump, and 20-lb. weight. Tolu Fayanjuola, who holds fourth place on the Bucknell top-10 list in the long jump with a leap last season of 18'4 ?" should be the featured Bison competitor, while Drew Folk has had the best high jump this year with a leap of 6'5", just ?" off the top-10 list. The 20-lb. weight will feature school record holder Maria Garcia, who began the season in third all-time at Bucknell and jumped to second in the first meet. In the last three weeks, she has broken the school record twice, now leading second-place Lisa Allen's 1997 throw by just over a foot.
Saturday's field events will finish up with the men's pole vault at 1 p.m. and the men's 35-lb. weight, women's high jump, and men's long jump at 1:30 p.m. Dan Frake has been Bucknell's top weight thrower this year, setting a new personal record with a toss of 46'8 ?" last Saturday at the Bucknell Winter Classic. Fayanjuola and Jamie Lilien hold down the fourth and ninth spots on the women's high jump list, respectively, and Noel Powell, who has already claimed the Patriot League Men's Field Athlete of the Week award this season for a leap of 23'9", will aim to break his own school and fieldhouse record of 25' in the long jump.
Saturday's running events will consist of the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, 5000-meter run, 200-meter dash, and 4x800 relays. Powell figures to run again on the men's side in the 60, and already holds the school record in the 200 with a time of 21.80 seconds. On the women's side, Fayanjuola and Erin Turner-Byfield hold down top-10 times in the shortest of the dashes, while Lilien and Melanie Buczko do the same with the hurdles. Mellas looks to be Bucknell's top hurdler on the men's side. Three Bucknell women, including Rehana Lanewala, and Amy Calvo, plus Sarah VandenBroek, who entered with the ninth-best all-time run of 26.26 seconds this season, hold spots in the women's 200-meter top-10 list. Bucknell is strong in the distance races, with Greg Costello already posting a top-10 time on the men's side in the 5K this year, finishing in 14:28.59 at Penn State's National Invitational, the fastest finish since 1995. Bucknell's women have had two entries this year in the 800 list, by Christa Sawko and Jennifer Marsh, which will help the Bison in the relay. Sunday will begin with more field events, including the women's pole vault, triple jump, and shot put, followed by the men's triple jump and shot put. Buczko broke Bucknell's women's pole vault record in her first meet as a Bison this season, eventually raising the bar to 12'9 ?", or 8 ?" over the previous record holder. Angie Hall, another freshman, has also qualified for ECAC competition in the event. Ann Doty and Lauren Bricker, also freshmen, have claimed the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, on the triple jump list, with jumps averaging 38' between them. This season, freshman Marjorie Grap and sophomore Frederick entered the shot put list, joining Laura Schaffer and Angie McFarland as four current Bucknell athletes holding top-10 times. On the men's side, Jeff Arek stands in seventh place all-time in the pole vault, leaping 15'3", while Frake will hold down the shot put for the Bison.
Sunday's running events will consist of the mile run, 400-, 500-, 800-, 1000-, and 3000-meter runs, the distance medley relay, the 4x400 meter relay, plus the finals in the 60- and 200-meter dashes and 60-meter hurdles. Powell and Monique Boley have been strong in the longer dashes this season, Boley bettering her times in the 400 (sixth place) and 500 (fourth place), and Powell in the 400 (sixth place). Entries by Sawko and Marsh in the women's 800 top-10 list joined them with Calvo in that honored group, while Sawko and Marsh also wrote their names on the 1000 list this season. Marsh's cross country teammates, Katie Pfeifer likely the highest finisher among them, will pursue points for the Bison in the 3K. Costello and Aaron Hanlon, who have both qualified for IC4A competition in the middle distance races this year, will anchor the men's hopes in those events.
Last season, Bucknell's women won by a wide margin over runner-up Army, 180-120, claiming their fifth title in six years and second straight. The Bison women have claimed seven of the 13 Patriot League indoor track and field titles contested. Bucknell's men had a close third-place finish (99 points) behind Army (191) and Lafayette (109) last season. Army's men have claimed every title since joining the meet in 1994 and ended Bucknell's three-year Patriot League Championship run in the process.
