Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Patriot League Champions! Bucknell Women Take Indoor Title by Largest Margin in League History
2/22/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 22, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - No team in the fourteen Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships held since 1991 has had such a dominant performance as the 2003-04 Bucknell women's team. The Bison crushed runner-up Navy by 94 points, 198-104, breaking their own record for the largest margin of victory by three points. The 1993 Bucknell women beat Fordham by 91 points, 205-114. Bucknell's 198 points were the fourth-highest total in the 14 competitions, coming in behind Bucknell's 1999 (225.33), 2000 (212), and 1993 (205) finishes. It is Bucknell's third consecutive Patriot League indoor crown, as well as the sixth in seven years and eighth overall.
The Bison women started the second full day of competition by taking three of the six scoring places in the shot put. Marjorie Grap had the second-best all-time throw in Bucknell history with a third-place 44'6 ?" heave. Ellen Shepstone found the tenth spot on the Bucknell list with a fifth-place 41'6", and Laura Schaffer came in sixth at 41'3". Sara Fields of Army won the competition with a Patriot League Championship meet record 50' ?". Fields was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet for her efforts. It was the second league meet throwing record set, following Midshipman Jennifer Leatherman's weight throw of 59'5 ?" yesterday.
Bucknell scored next in the mile run, as Jennifer Marsh turned in the sixth-best all-time Bucknell performance by finishing in a sixth-place 5:01.54. Ann Doty moved up to third place on Bucknell's triple jump lists by scoring 10 points for the Bison and winning the competition with an ECAC-qualifying leap of 38'10 ?". Lauren Bricker came in right behind with a second-place 37'10 ?" leap.
Melanie Buczko contributed 10 of her 20 points to Bucknell's cause with her win in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.94 seconds. Two spots behind was Jamie Lilien, who finished in 9.10 seconds. Tolu Fayanjuola won the 60-meter dash in 7.75 seconds, just short of the 7.71 ECAC mark. Fayanjuola's mark established a league record, as it was the first time races have been competed in the league meet. Navy's Danielle Still also established a new league mark in the hurdle event during Friday's pentathlon, finishing in 8.78 seconds. Buczko's 12' 3 ?" pole vault win was two spots better than teammate Angie Hall, who vaulted 11'9 ?".
The Bison had three scorers in both the 400 and 500 meter races. Amy Calvo won the 400 for the second straight year, finishing the race in 57.78 seconds. Monique Boley finished second in the 400 in a Bucknell sixth-best all-time finish of 58.07 seconds, with Rehana Lanewala right behind. In the 500, Navy's Tineisha Davis had a league championship meet record finish of 1:12.64, ahead of Lafayette's Elizabeth Hallowell and third-place Calvo. Boley finished fourth, and Mariel Fink fifth. Davis earned the league's Women's Track Athlete of the Meet.
Bucknell went one-two-three again in the 800-meter race, with Christa Sawko finishing in a Bucknell fifth-best all-time mark of 2:15.18. Bricker finished in an eighth-best all-time 2:15.79, and Marsh in a ninth-best all-time 2:16.44. The Bison had a fifth-place finish in the 200, as Sarah VandenBroek crossed the line in 26.27 seconds. Bucknell added six more points in the 3K race, with Kayla Halloran taking fourth in 10:22.04 and Katie Pfeifer fifth in 10:22.10.
To ensure the margin of victory record, Bucknell needed to finish ahead of Navy in the 4x400-meter relay, which it did by taking third in 4:00.11, ahead of Navy's fourth. Behind Bucknell's 198 and Navy's 104 points were Army with 100, Lehigh with 62, American with 56, Lafayette with 44, Colgate with 41, and Holy Cross with 15.
Bucknell Head Coach Kevin Donner was named the Patriot League's Women's Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. "I was very proud that our women had such a dominant performance," said Donner. They fed off each other's energy and kept pouring on the points." It is the 11th time a Bucknell skipper has won the award, as the late Art Gulden won eight from 1992-1996 and 1998-2000.
