Bucknell University Athletics
Maria Garcia Earns First Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Award of Season
4/27/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
April 27, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's Maria Garcia (Providence, R.I./Hope) has been named as the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Co-Women's Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Penn Relays last Thursday. It is the first time she has captured the honor this year, while she was tabbed the Patriot League Women's Field Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this year on Tuesday.
The senior shares the honor with Syracuse's Johvonne Hernandez, who won the discus at the Penn Relays but came in second to Garcia in the hammer throw by 3'4". The two throwers headed the collegiate competition, while there was a separate "championship" section made up of college athletes in which only three throwers out-distanced than Garcia. Two of the athletes were from the University of Florida and one from Coastal Carolina. The competition's winner, Candice Scott of Florida, set a new NCAA record of 229'1".
Garcia broke the school record in the hammer throw for the fourth time in as many weeks. The senior entered the outdoor season holding the Bucknell mark at 180'11", broke it for the first time this year at the Maryland Invitational on Apr. 3, at 186'1", upped the mark again on Apr. 10 to 188'11 ?", moved it to 190'2" a week later at the Bucknell Five-Way, and set the current standard at 198'8". She is five-for-five in hammer throw wins this outdoor season, including her victory at the Virginia Commonwealth meet in March, where she missed the then-record by 3'8". She also won the Patriot League's weekly women's field award on Feb. 17 following a school-record breaking weight throw performance during the indoor schedule.
This weekend will be especially important for Garcia, who is after her fourth-straight Patriot League hammer throwing title at the league championship meet at Army. The first events will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon, while Garcia's hammer competition will kick off at 2 p.m. Friday. An added bit of motivation is the Patriot League Championship hammer record, which stands at 187'5", set by Army's Heather Lawson in 1997. The meet will conclude on Saturday, with the Bucknell women looking for their fifth title in six years after a third-place finish at Bucknell's Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium last year.
