Bucknell University Athletics
Three Bucknell Women's Track and Field Athletes to Compete at USA Junior Meet
6/22/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
June 22, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Three freshman Bucknell women's track and field athletes will compete at the USA Track and Field Junior Outdoor Championships this weekend in College Station, Texas. Pole vaulter Melanie Buczko, triple jumper Ann Doty, and hurdler Christa Sawko will represent Bucknell against the nation's best under-20 athletes between Friday and Sunday.
To be eligible for the event, athletes had to meet qualifying standards for their events, be no younger than 14 on the competition day, and not turn 20 in 2004. Aside from testing their skills against the top competition in their age group, on the line for the Bucknell three is a trip to Grosseto, Italy, to compete in the World Junior Track and Field Championships held July 16-18 and put on by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world track and field body. The top two finishers in each event advance to the international competition.
Sawko will compete first in the 400-meter hurdle preliminary race at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. Should she advance to the event's final, it will be held at 6:18 p.m. on Saturday. Sawko stands fourth on the all-time Bucknell list in the event with a personal best of 1:03.12, achieved at the Patriot League Championships, where she earned a bronze medal.
Buczko's pole vaulting competition will be held on Sunday at 3:45 p.m. With senior thrower Maria Garcia, Buczko was one of the first two Bucknell women ever to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this month, also in Texas. She finished 11th in the nation among all Division I collegians at that meet, and holds the Bucknell record in the pole vault at 13'3 ?", achieved at the ECAC Championships in May.
Doty's triple jump event will commence soon after, at 4:15 p.m. She stands second on the Bucknell all-time list with a personal best of 38'11", which earned her a gold medal at the league championship meet.
