Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Track & Field Team Opens Indoor Season This Weekend
12/4/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Dec. 4, 2008
Interview with Bucknell Head Coach Kevin Donner
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's track & field team kicks off its indoor season this weekend, hosting 11 teams in the Bison Opener. The meet starts Friday, Dec. 5, with the start of the pentathlon at 3 p.m. Field events will continue on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 a.m., and running events will start at 11 a.m. Earlier today, Thursday, Dec. 4, the Bison were selected first in the indoor track & field Patriot League preseason poll. Bucknell received nine of the 16 first-place votes and 92 points overall. Bucknell has won the last seven league indoor track & field championships. Lafayette received 80 points and six first-place votes, finishing second in the poll.
Season Preview
The Bucknell women's track and field program has established a tradition of success--seven straight Patriot League indoor titles and eight of the last 10 PL outdoor crowns--and the Bison enter each new season with championship expectations. Although they return many key athletes from last year's squad that captured the indoor league title and got nosed out by just two points by Army for the outdoor title, the Bison know the competition will be fierce.
"Like always, we expect to be contenders for Patriot League championships both indoors and outdoors, and we expect to win," said head coach Kevin Donner. "We do return a good amount of our points from last season, but everyone else in the league has improved quite a bit. In addition to Navy, Lafayette and Army have a lot of good young athletes, and watch out for Holy Cross, which moved up to fourth last year, and Lehigh, which has everyone back. There are four or five teams with realistic chances to win. "
Sprints
Junior Stephanie Evans (York, Pa./Central York) is coming off a strong season in the short sprints, when she placed fourth in the 60m dash indoors and sixth in the indoor 200m and outdoor 100m. She now has the second-fastest time (7.92) in school history in the 60, and she is No. 8 all-time outdoors in both the 100 and 200. Junior Kristin Steele (Shiremanstown, Pa./Trinity) made the finals in the 100m last spring, while sophomore Kristin Bretscher (Farmingville, N.Y./Centereach) is a much-improved sprinter as well.
In the longer sprints, senior Megan Hathaway (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) won the Patriot League indoor 500m last season, running the third-fastest time (1:15.35) in school history. Juniors Lindsay Appel (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Jennifer Pierce (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J./Northern Highlands) were mainstays on the 4x400m relay. Pierce was fifth at that distance at the 2008 PL indoor meet, while Appel just missed scoring in the 500.
Hurdles
The Bison had just one Patriot League scorer in the hurdles events last season -- then-freshman Jamie Leacock (Howell, N.J./Howell) took fourth in the 400m hurdles -- and they will be looking for a depth boost there this season. Another incoming rookie, Taylor Funk (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant Area), a state runner-up in the high hurdles, could help shore up that event.
Mid-Distance
The middle distance events have historically been an area of strength for Bucknell, and this year should be no different, as the Bison boast some of the league's best 800m runners. Last season, the Orange & Blue finished 2-3-4 in the indoor 800 and 2-3-5-6 outdoors, and they won the indoor 4x800m relay and took second outdoors.
Senior Jenny Dalzell (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) and junior Allison Janda (Plymouth, Mich./Salem) are the top two returnees at 800m. Dalzell has the fifth-fastest time (2:12.45) in school history, and she was the PL runner-up outdoors and fourth indoors. She was also part of Bucknell's PL-champion distance medley relay last winter. Janda was third indoors and sixth outdoors last season, and that duo made up half of a 4x800m relay that posted the third-fastest time in school history last season. Hathaway is also strong at 800m and could score there this season.
Hathaway, Janda, Dalzell and Pierce earned All-East honors in the 4x800m relay last spring, placing seventh at the ECAC Championships. Bucknell has earned an All-East medal in that event in four of the last five years.
Distance
The Bison return a solid distance corps, led by senior Nicole Falcaro (Dingmans Ferry, Pa./Delaware Valley) and sophomore Sarah Moniz (Topsfield, Mass./Masconoment Regional) in the 3,000 and 5,000, and senior Kim Hassett (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) in the 10K. Moniz last year was a Patriot League scorer in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 1,500 and 5,000; Falcaro scored in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000; and Hassett was fourth in the 10,000.
Senior Gillian Nordquist (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston), an all-conference cross country runner, was a 10K scorer as both a freshman and sophomore. Junior Laura Cundey (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) was third in the PL in the indoor 1,000 last season.
Bucknell did not garner points in the steeplechase last season, but senior Nichole Smith (Mercer, Pa./Mercer Area), junior Gabrielle Skovira (Park Ridge, N.J./Park Ridge) and Falcaro rank No. 4, 8 and 10, respectively, in school history in that event.
Freshmen Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) and Caitlin Cavanaugh (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) should also contribute early on.
Jumps
Bucknell features plenty of depth in the jumps and multi-events, led by junior scoring machine Amy Mantush (Drums, Pa./Hazleton) and former Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kati Dempsey (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley). Mantush, a 2007 NCAA regional qualifier in the high jump, finished in the top three in six different events at last year's PL indoor and outdoor championships, and with a personal best of 5-8 is the top high jumper in school history. She is also a standout in the long and triple jumps, and she took third in the PL in the pentathlon last winter.
Pierce was the conference runner-up in the outdoor long jump last season. Dempsey, now a senior, has endured some injuries in recent years since winning the PL high jump title as a freshman. She came back to score in that event twice last season, including a third-place finish indoors. Also keep an eye on sophomore Casey Krause (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), who went 18-1 1/2 in the long jump last spring and finished eighth in that event at the PL meet.
Pole Vault
Bucknell has had a long line of talented women's pole vaulters, and sophomore Rebecca Frey (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) is the latest standout. As a rookie she fell just a notch short of the 12-feet barrier, clearing 11-11 3/4 both indoors and outdoors, the third-best mark in school history. An All-East honoree indoors, Frey was PL runner-up twice last season, and she will be the top-ranked pole vaulter in the league entering 2008-09 after the graduation of Navy's Jacqui Charnigo, the indoor and outdoor champion.
Throws
The Bison will have to replace a pair of graduated Patriot League champions in javelin specialist Beverly Rogers and discus thrower Amanda Mockbee, but there is still plenty in reserve. Sophomore Laura Rycek (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) was PL runner-up behind Rogers in the javelin last season, and she went on to earn All-East honors with a seventh-place finish at the ECAC Championships, one spot ahead of Rogers. Rycek's top throw of 145-6 is No. 2 all-time at Bucknell and qualified her for the NCAA East Regional.
Versatile junior Chelsey Musante (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) scored in both the shot put and discus last season, and she was an ECAC qualifier in the hammer throw, where her PR of 161-5 ranks 10th in school history. She is also in the top 10 in the shot put, where she has bested 43 feet.
Two talented freshmen also figure to step in right away. Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Medham) has gone better than 44 feet in the shot put and was the New Jersey runner-up in that event. Rebecca Misko (Morristown, N.J./Madison) was all-state in New Jersey in the discus.
