Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track and Field Prepares for 2007 Outdoor Season
3/15/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
March 15, 2007
LEWISBURG - On Thursday, the Patriot League announced the 2007 preseason track and field polls. The Bucknell women were picked first with 98 points and 14 first-place votes, while the men were listed third with 70 points behind Army (97) and Navy (87). On Friday, the Bison will begin their 2007 outdoor season at the Coastal Carolina Shamrock Invitational in Conway, S.C. The Bison women eye their fourth straight Patriot League outdoor championship, while the men look to better their sixth-place showing a season ago and win their first championship since joining the Patriot League in 1991.
On the women's side, Catherine Trentacoste (Garden City, N.J./Garden City), who was named the Track Athlete of the Meet a season ago at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships, will help lead the Bison in the sprinting events. Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville), who won the Patriot League title in the 800-meter dash, will lead a strong contingent in the middle distance events. In the distance events, Bucknell will look to Leanna Nastase (Beaverdale, Pa./Forest Hills) and Erin Cranmer-Hart (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock). At the indoor championships last month, Nastase and Cranmer-Hart won the 5,000-meter and one-mile run, respectively.
In the field events, Melanie Buczko (Butler, Pa./Butler Area), who is a two-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete, will look to continue her strong performance in the pole vault. She has won the Patriot League pole vault title the last two years. Marjorie Grap (Van Etten, N.Y./Spencer-Van Etten) won the discus and hammer throw at the Patriot League Championships last season. Grap, who was an NCAA provisional qualifier, won the 20-lb weight throw title at the Patriot League Indoor Championships and the ECAC Championships. Beverly Rogers (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold), who was the runner-up in last two Patriot League Championships in the javelin, will look for her first career league title. The trio of Nina Reinhardt (Northport, N.Y./Northport), Kat Allen (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga) and Amy Mantush (Drums, Pa./Hazleton) will lead the Bison in the multi events. Mantush won her first high jump title in the indoor championships last month.
For the men, the quartet of Kerry Boyle (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton), Matthew Bonelli (Califon, N.J./Pingry School), Eric Guja (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Matthew Johnson (Newburgh, N.Y./Marlboro Central) hope to compete strong in the sprinting events. Boyle, Bonelli and Guja were part of the 4x400 team who finished second at last year's Patriot League Outdoor Championship. Boyle won his first indoor title in the 400 last month at the Patriot League Indoor Championships. Matthew Forys (Howell, N.J./Howell), who is coming off a strong indoor season, winning the 5,000 at the Patriot League Championships and the IC4A Championships, will lead Bucknell in the distance events. Also looking to compete well will be Wallace Campbell (Montgomery, Ala./Montgomery Academy).
Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg), Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central), David Mante (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) and Joshua Kaehler (Hanover, Pa./South Western) are the top returning field athletes. Kaehler won the Patriot League title in the javelin a season ago. Hoffman, the conference champion and NCAAA provisional qualifier in the indoor weight throw, will compete in the hammer throw outdoors. Mante won the pole vault title last month at the Patriot League Indoor Championships, while Anthony posted a victory in the triple jump. Anthony was also named Rookie of the Meet.
