Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track and Field Prepares for Bucknell Team Challenge
4/20/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Bucknell\ Team\ Challenge\:\ Descending\ Order\ List
Bucknell Team Challenge: Live Stats
April 20, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - On Saturday, Apr. 21, the Bucknell men's and women's track and field teams will host the Bucknell Team Challenge, their first scored meet of the season, at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Competing against the Bison will be Binghamton, Patriot League rival Colgate, Duquesne, Lock Haven, Penn State, Saint Francis (Pa.) and UMBC. The meet will begin with the men's triple jump at 10 a.m.
For the women's team, seniors Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) and Leanna Nastase (Beaverdale, Pa./Forsest Hills) along with junior Christine Totten (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) will lead the Orange and Blue in the mid-distance and distance events.
Sawko became a NCAA East Regional and ECAC qualifier at the Tiger Track Classic in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 8.35 seconds. She also qualified for the 1,500 with a time of 4:32.85 at the Bison Outdoor Classic. The Montoursville, Pa., native, holds down the top spot in both events in the Patriot League. Nastase qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 5,000 and the 10,000 with times of 17:21.94 and 37:24.01, respectively. Totten ran a time of 37:24.45 in the 10,000 to qualify for the ECAC Championships at the Jim Taylor Invitational.
In the field events, seniors Marjorie Grap (Van Etten, N.Y./Spencer-Van Etten), Melanie Buczko (Butler, Pa./Butler Area), Nina Reinhardt (Northport, N.Y./Northport) and Kathleen Hart (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), along with juniors Amanda Mockbee (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and Beverly Rogers (Finleyville, Pa./Ringgold) will look to post strong performances in the field events.
Grap has qualified for the NCAA East Regional and ECAC Championships in the hammer with a mark of 179 feet, 3 inches (54.64m). She is also an ECAC qualifier in the discus, throwing for a distance of 149-5 (45.54m). Buzcko, who holds the pole vault record at Bucknell, is an NCAA Regional East and ECAC qualifier. She cleared a height of 12-5 ½ (3.80m), which is the second best mark in the league. Reinhardt qualified for the ECAC Championships in the heptathlon with 4,581 points at the Shamrock Invitational, which ranks first in the league.
Mockbee and Hart qualified for the ECAC Championships in the discus with distances of 152-1 (46.38m) and 144-8 (44.11m), respectively. Mockbee's mark tops the Patriot League this season. Rogers made the NCAA East Regional qualifying list by launching a distance of 142-8 (43.50m) in the javelin.
Leading the way for the men on the track will be senior Matthew Forys (Howell, N.J./Howell), junior Wallace Campbell (Montgomery, Ala./Montgomery Academy) and sophomore Kevin Macleod (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow).
Forys has qualified for the NCAA East Regional and the IC4A Championships in both the 5,000 and the 3,000 steeplechase. He notched a time of 14:07.83 in the 5,000, which ranks third in the league, and ran a time of 8:50.10 in the 3,000 steeplechase, which tops the league. He holds the best time in the East Region and ranks second all-time at Bucknell. Campbell and MacLeod qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 5,000 and the 400 hurdles, respectively. Campbell broke the plane at 14:30.09, while MacLeod crossed the line with a time of 53.50, which is the second-best time in the league.
Seniors Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) and Joshua Kaehler (Hanover, Pa./South Western), along with freshmen Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) and Steven Pierce (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) will lead the Bison in the field events.
Hoffman, Kaehler and Pierce are all NCAA East Regional and IC4A qualifiers. Hoffman improved on his distance in the hammer throw at the Bison Outdoor Classic with a mark of 195-9 (59.67m), which is the best mark in the Patriot League. In the javelin, Pierce threw for a distance of 216-9 (66.08m), which moved him into second place all-time at Bucknell, while Kaehler launched a distance of 210-1 (64.04m), which sits him third all-time. Pierce and Kaehler rank first and third, respectively, in the league. Anthony earned a spot in the IC4A Championships by jumping for a distance of 48-9 ½ (14.87m) in the triple jump. He owns the second-best mark in the league.
The Bucknell Team Challenge will provide live stats throughout the meet on Saturday, which can be found on the track and field schedule page or by clicking here.
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