Bucknell University
Bison Opener
Bucknell Women's Indoor Track and Field Team Opens Indoor Season with Bison Opener
12/2/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Dec. 2, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa - The Bucknell women's indoor track and field team opened its 2006-07 season by hosting the Bison Opener inside Gerhard Fieldhouse on Saturday. Competing in the open with the Bison were Georgetown, Howard, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Loyola (Md.), Morgan State, Shippensburg, Saint Francis (Pa.) Susquehanna, Towson, UMBC, Penn and Ursinus. Melanie Buczko (Butler, Pa./Butler Area), Marjorie Grap (Van Etten, N.Y./Spencer-Van Etten), and Nina Reinhardt (Northport, N.Y./Northport) each picked up first-place finishes for Bucknell.
Grap won the weight throw with a distance of 61 feet, 5 ½ inches (18.75m), which qualified her for the ECAC Championships. She also posted a throw of 43-8 (13.32m) in the shot put. Buczko earned a her victory in the pole vault with a height of 12-3 ½ (3.75m), while Reinhardt won the long jump by posting a distance of 18-3 ¼ (5.57m). She also placed fifth in the high jump with a height of 5-1 (1.55m).
In addition to the first-place showings, Bucknell had a number of athletes earn spots in the school's top-10 lists, led by freshman Kalle James-Wintjen (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg), who posted a time of 8.00 seconds in the 60-meter dash, which was good for ninth place in the finals and second in school history. Also in the 60, senior Catherine Trentacoste (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) finished 15th with a time of 8.08 but ran a time of 8.03 in the preliminary race, which was also a personal best and ranks her third in school history. The pair also finished back-to-back in the 300 with Trentacoste finishing fourth with a time of 41.81 and James-Wintjen crossing the line fifth with a time of 41.99. Trentacoste also finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.07.
In the one-mile run, senior Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville) placed second with a time of 5:00.81, which is seventh all-time at Bucknell and qualified her for the ECAC Championships. Freshman Amy Mantush (Drums, Pa./Hazleton) posted a height of 5-5 (1.65m) in the high jump, which was good for second place and ties her for fifth all-time. Junior Nicole Ayala (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) finished fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 37-4 ½ (11.39m).
The Bison had six other athletes earn top-five finishes in their respective events. Senior Mariel Fink (Pennington, N.J./Hun School of Princeton) finished fourth with a time of 1:37.56 in the 600. In the 1,000, junior Offeibea Hanson-Hall (New Rochelle, N.J./New Rochelle) finished third with a time of 3:00.70. Junior Erin Cranmer-Hart (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock) posted a time of 10:10.87 in the 3,000, which was good for second place. Sophomore Gillian Nordquist (Clarkstown, Mich./Clarkstown) broke the plane in second place with a time of 18:21.62 in the 5,000, while sophomore teammate Kim Hassett (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) placed fourth with a time of 18:55.52. Freshman Megan Hathaway (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) posted a time of 1:18.41 in the 500, which gave her a fifth-place finish.
The Bucknell women's indoor track and field team will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13, in the Gulden Relays in the Gerhard Fieldhouse.
