Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Champs Again! Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championship Trophy Returns to Bucknell for Fifth Time in Six Years
5/1/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 1, 2004
WEST POINT, N.Y. - After a third-place finish in 2003 at its home track, the Bucknell women's track and field team won the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the fifth time in six years on Saturday afternoon at Army's Shea Stadium, leading the host Black Knights in the final standings 182-160. Maria Garcia was named the Patriot League Women's Field Athlete of the Meet, while Kevin Donner was named the Patriot League Women's Coach of the Year.
Garcia won the award for her 202'8" hammer throw on Friday that was the fourth-straight gold medal in the event for the senior, broke a Patriot League Championship meet record, and marked the fifth-straight week Garcia has broken the Bucknell record. But there were more noteworthy throwing performances to come on Saturday. In the shot put, freshman Marjorie Grap came within three inches of the Bucknell school record, settling instead for the second-best all-time throw, a bronze medal-winning effort of 44'9 ?" that netted six points for Bucknell. Laura Schaffer finished right behind in fourth with a toss of 43'6" and four more points for Bucknell.
Grap qualified for ECAC competition in the shot put as well as the discus, where she finished fourth and landed in the sixth spot on Bucknell's all-time list with a toss of 137'11". In fifth was Angela McFarland (135'1 ?") and in sixth was Schaffer (131'6") as Bucknell picked up seven points in the event.
Tolu Fayanjuola followed up her school-record and league championship meet-record long jump with another gold medal, this one in the 100 meter dash, where she finished in 12.44 seconds, giving Bucknell 10 points. The Bison earned five more in the 200, with a fourth-place finish from Rehana Lanewala (25.99) and sixth-place finish from Sarah VandenBroek (26.24). In the 400, Amy Calvo moved into a tie for sixth on the Bucknell all-time list with a second-place 57.13 finish, with Boley turning in a third-place 57.36 finish, putting her in the eighth spot all-time. Bucknell earned 14 points in the event.
Bucknell earned eight points in the mid-distance events on Saturday, with Lauren Bricker finishing fifth in the 800 in 2:17.30 for two points and Jennifer Marsh taking third in the 1500 in 4:39.29 for six points. In the distance events, Katie Pfeifer followed up yesterday's silver medal 10K with a fourth-place 5K in 17:56.30 that gave Bucknell four more points. In the steeplechase, Cindy Carlson chipped in one point with a sixth-place 11:35.21 finish that puts her in third on Bucknell's all-time list.
The hurdle events gave Bucknell seven points, as Catherine Trentacoste finished sixth in 15.78 in the 100-meter hurdles, while Christa Sawko finished in a fourth-best Bucknell all-time 1:03.12 in the 400-meter hurdles, giving her a bronze medal in the event.
After a second-place finish in the 4x800 yesterday, the women's relay squads turned in two-more fine performances on Saturday. The 4x100 team of Calvo, VandenBroek, Lanewala and Fayanjuola finished third in 48.08 seconds, giving Bucknell six more points and moving that foursome into a tie for the second-fastest time in Bucknell history. The 4x400 team of Boley, Calvo, Bricker and VandenBroek finished in a bronze-medal 3:56.49 for six more points.
Fayanjuola put seven more points in the Bucknell account with a second-place tie in the high jump, as she leapt 5'3" and into seventh place on Bucknell's all-time list. Ann Doty picked up a gold medal in the triple jump, moving into second on Bucknell's all-time list with a leap of 38'11". Bricker finished second, jumping 38'5 ?". Robin Meling completed a total of 22 points in the event for the Bison with a ninth-best all-time fourth-place leap of 37'6 ?".
Danielle Todman finished third in the heptathlon for Bucknell, earning a fourth-best all-time 4,073 points and six points toward Bucknell's total.
After Bucknell's 186 and Army's 160, the team scores were rounded out by Navy's 144, Lafayette's and Lehigh's 56, American's 42, Colgate's 36 and Holy Cross' six.
It is the sixth total outdoor championship for Bucknell, adding 1991's inaugural Patriot League championship to the 1999-2002 run before this year. Bucknell will return to the track next weekend at James Madison, looking for more ECAC/IC4A qualifiers that will participate in the meet held in New Haven, Conn., May 13-16.
