Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Women's Track and Field Team Anticipates 2005-06 Campaign
12/1/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Dec. 1, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bison women's track and field team is looking to build from the success in the 2005 season, as the 2005-06 season will begin as Bucknell will host the Bison Opener on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the field events beginning at 10:30 a.m. and the running events to start at noon.
In the Patriot League's preseason poll taken by head coaches and sports information practitioners from the institutions affiliated with the league, the Orange and Blue were picked to finish first in the PL this indoor season, as the team returns nearly 20 athletes who scored in at least one PL event during the season, including seven gold-medal winners.
Sprints
The Bison sprint group will likely have the most rebuilding at hand with the loss of four PL scorers to graduation. Kat Allen (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga), along with fellow juniors Sarah VandenBroek (Hyde Park, N.Y./Roosevelt) and Chessa Forer (New York, N.Y./Deerfield Academy), will look to step up their sprinting performances in the 2006. Necomers Stacey Haas (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), Megan Hathaway (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagra Wheatfield) and Taryn Casey (S. Surry, B.C./Southridge) will have an immediate impact on the sprints.
Hurdles
The Bison hurdle contingent will be led by Allen, along with fellow juniors Melanie Buczko (Butler, Pa./Butler) and Catherine Trentacoste (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) in 2005-06. Buczko has been the top Bison hurdler for the past two seasons, winning the PL 60-meter hurdle title in 2004, and earning a silver medal in 2005. Buczko also sits at the top of Bucknell's all-time 60 hurdles standings. Trentacoste had a break-through season in 2005, scoring a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the PL Outdoor Championships. Allen also scored in the 400 hurdles at the PL outdoor meet. Both Trentacoste and Allen are also members of Bucknell top-10 list in the 60 hurdles.
Mid-Distance
The mid-distance events will once again be one of Bucknell's strongest areas with the likes of juniors Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Arean) and Lauren Bricker (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area). Sawko, an NCAA East Regional qualifer, tore through the Bison record books last season, shattering school records in both the outdoor 800 and 1,500. Sawko also claimed PL gold medals in the indoor 1,000 and the outdoor 800. Bricker upheld Bucknell's tradition of mid-distance dominance, earning the school's eighth consecutive gold in the PL indoor 800, and went on to run the third-fastest 800 time in school history during the outdoor season. Bricker and Sawko also made up half of the 4x800 squad that won gold medals at both the PL Outdoor Championships and the ECAC Championships. Filling out the mid-distance contingent will be senior Kerryann Branker (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) and sophomore Erin-Cranmer Hart (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock Area). Branker managed a sixth-place PL finish in the outdoor 800 last spring while Cranmer-Hart posted the third-best 1,500 time on the team last season.
Distance
Senior Kayla Halloran (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) returns as the most decorated Bison in the long distance events after winning last season's PL indoor 5,000 and taking second in the 3,000. Junior Jenny Stevens (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing Valley) also has a scoring performance under her belt, taking fifth in the outdoor 5,000. Junior Leanna Nastase (Beaverdale, Pa./Forest Hills) is also expected to make an impact in the distances after two impressive cross country seasons for the Orange and Blue. Nastase just missed a scoring finish at the 2005 PL Outdoor Championship, placing seventh in the 10,000. Sophomore Christine Totten (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) will also look to be one of Bucknell's top distance athletes after proving to be a solid steeplechaser last spring, providing a fourth-place finish in the event at the PL Outdoor Championships.
Jumps
Junior and NCAA Regional qualifier Ann Doty (Punxsutawney, Pa./Punxsutawney Area) has had an impressive title run thus far in her career, winning four-straight PL triple jump titles. Doty and teammate Bricker have been at the top of the PL heap since they came to Lewisburg, producing a pair of one-three finishes at last year's conference meets. Fellow junior Nina Reinhardt (Northport, N.Y./Northport) is the top returner in the long jump after winning a bronze medal at the outdoor PL Championships. Sophomore Nicole Ayala (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) also looks to be one of the Bison's top jumpers after a promising freshman campaign. Sophomore Denise Manero (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) returns to the high jump after scoring a sixth-place finish outdoors. Freshman Katie Dempsey (Saylorsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) will immediately make an impact in the high and long jump.
Pole Vault
The Bison pole vault crew is poised for another strong season with three returning Patriot League scorers, including two-time NCAA qualifier Buczko. Buczko returns for her junior year as the defending outdoor PL champion and the Bison school-record holder both indoors (13'5 1/2") and outdoors (13'3 1/2"). Fellow junior Angie Hall (Elkton, Md./Rising Sun) has also been one of Bucknell's strongest vaulters in her first two years, winning the conference outdoor crown in 2004 and posting a bronze medal performance at the 2005 indoor PL Championships. Sophomore Ashley Curry (Lewistown, Pa./Lewistown Area) will also be back with a pair of PL scoring finishes to her credit.
Nina Reinhardt will be an asset for Bucknell in the multi-events.  |
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Junior Marjorie Grap (Van Etten, N.Y./Spencer Van-Etten) will lead the Bison throwing corps after a banner year in 2005. The junior earned four PL gold medals on the year and was named the PL "Field Athlete of the Meet" following her performance at the outdoor conference championships. Grap, an NCAA Regional qualifier, has already earned a spot in Bucknell history after posting a new school record in the 20-pound weight throw and recording the second-best throw in school history in the indoor and outdoor shot put, the discus and the hammer. Sophomore Amanda Mockbee (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) also looks to have a strong year after posting a pair of PL scoring performances over her freshman campaign. Sophomore Beverly Rogers (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold) will join the squad for the outdoor season, returning as Bucknell's top javelin thrower. Rogers proved she will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years, setting a new javelin school record in her very first collegiate appearance last spring. Rogers also impressed at the Patriot League meet, winning "Rookie of the Meet" honors after a silver-medal finish.
Multi-Events
Reinhardt will lead the Bison multi-event corps, returning with a pair of PL medal-winning performances. Reinhardt earned her first career PL title with a win in the pentathlon at the conference indoor meet and won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the outdoor championships. Senior Danielle Todman (Scotch Plains, N.J./Bishop George Ahr) spent last year on Reinhardt's heels, taking second at the indoor PL meet and third at the outdoor event. Todman is also poised to make another run for the PL podium in 2006. Todman will also contribute in the open shot put and short hurdles in her final year as a Bison.
Field events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Opener, with running events to follow at noon. The Bison will return to action on Jan. 7, 2006, hosting the Gulden Relays.
