Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Track and Field Looks for Fifth Patriot League Title in Six Years
4/28/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
April 28, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Patriot League Track and Field Championships are Friday and Saturday, April 30-May 1 at Army's Shea Stadium, part of a five-championship weekend for Bucknell's athletic squads. Winning a title would be nothing new to either the men's or the women's squad, as the women have won four of the last five league crowns and the men have been the only team other than Army to win a league title.
In the 100 and 200 meter races, the Bison will be led by Tolu Fayanjuola, Rehana Lanewala, and Sarah VandenBroek. All three have posted scoring times in the 100 this year, with Fayanjuola a perfect three-for-three in wins, all with times that would have won the Patriot League Championship in the event last year. In the 400, the Bison will count on Amy Calvo and Monique Boley, both of whom scored in the event at the 2003 league meet.
The mid-distance section will be anchored by Jennifer Marsh, Christa Sawko and Lauren Bricker. All three have had times during the year likely to score in the 800, while Marsh scored in the 1500 at last year's meet. Jamie Gow is a returning scorer in the steeplechase, while the longer distance events will feature Alison Cole and Katie Pfeifer. Cole scored in the 10K in 2003, while Pfeifer joined both the 5K and 10K school top-10 lists this year. Her 5K time, 10th-best all-time, would have scored last year, and her 10K time, seventh-best, would have won last year's league competition.
Bucknell is also rich in the two hurdle competitions, with Sawko, Kat Allen, Catherine Trentacoste, Melanie Buczko and Jamie Lilien vying for points. Lilien and Buczko are represented on Bucknell's 100 meter hurdle top-10 list, while Sawko holds the sixth spot on the 400 list.
Fayanjuola and Bricker will be joined by Robin Meling and Ann Doty in pursuit of points in the long and triple jumps. Both freshmen, Doty and Bricker moved into the top four in Bucknell history in the triple jump this outdoor season, while Fayanjuola is sixth on the outdoor long jump list. In the high jump, Fayanjuola and Sarah Groman will leap for the Bison.
Maria Garcia may be contending for her fourth-straight Patriot League hammer title, but the senior is only one part of Bucknell's depth in the throwing corps. Angie McFarland, Erin Lee and Laura Schaffer all occupy sports in Bucknell's hammer and discus top-10 lists and are likely scoring candidates. In the javelin, Megan Frederick broke into the school's top-10 list this season with a distance worthy of points in 2003.
In addition to her hurdle chances, Buczko is a strong candidate to sweep both the indoor and outdoor pole vault titles. Her top height outdoors is 12'3 ?", almost a full foot higher than the winning height last year. Angie Hall is also a likely medalist, with a top height this year of 11'5", also good enough to win last year's competition. Bucknell will also enter Abby Bouzan-Kaloustian in the competition as another scoring opportunity for the Bison.
Danielle Todman and Nina Reinhardt will be Bucknell's entrants in the heptathlon, and both gained experience in the competition during the season at the Bucknell Outdoor Classic.
Toward the close of the meet, a reliable source of points for Bucknell will be the relays. The 4x100 team of Calvo, VandenBroek, Lanewala and Fayanjuola have already put themselves in third place on the Bucknell all-time list, while two of those runners, Calvo and VandenBroek, will join Boley and Bricker on the 4x400 team. Bricker, Sawko, Marsh and Jennifer Stevens will compete for Bucknell in the 4x800.
The meet gets underway on Friday at 1 p.m. with the decathlon and continues until Saturday, when the trophies will be handed out in the early evening.
