Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Bison Opener
Bucknell Men's Track & Field Starts Season with Bison Opener
12/6/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Dec. 6, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's track & field team started its season with a solid performance at the Bison Opener, in Lewisburg, Pa., on Saturday, Dec. 6. The non-team scoring event featured 11 squads, including fellow Pennsylvania schools in Kutztown, Lock Haven, Shippensburg, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Susquehanna. Bucknell junior Timothy Medlock (Evan Mills, N.Y./Indian River) broke his own school record in the shot put, achieving an IC4A-qualifying distance of 54 feet, 1/2 inches to win the event. Classmate Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) and sophomore Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) also achieved IC4A qualifying marks in the triple jump and high jump, respectively. Anthony jumped 48-10 1/4 to win the triple jump, while Fitzgerald's winning high jump measured 6-9.
"I thought the competition was very good, and all of our athletes responded nicely," Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner said. "If we can get a few more of our men healthy, I think we can compete for a Patriot League championship."
Fitzgerald now is tied for fourth in the Bison record books in the high jump. Other top-10 Bison achievements on Saturday came from junior Andrew Yehl (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and freshman Dan Mularz (Englishtown, N.J./Freehold Township) in the 60-meter hurdles, and sophomore John Quezada (South Hamilton, Mass./St. John's Preparatory) freshman Thomas McGarrigle (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) in the 60. Yehl finished fifth overall, and his time of 8.30 seconds is second in the Bison record books, while Mularz's 8.69 placed him 11th on Saturday and ninth in school history. Quezada (7.19) and McGarrigle's (7.22) times both came during the preliminaries, and rank seventh and tenth, respectively, on the Bucknell record charts.
Bison junior Kyle Ramer (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) won the mile (4:20.33), while sophomore Evan Novakowski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) finished first in the 800 (1:58.54). Ryan White (Elkins Park, Pa./Father Judge) won the heptathlon, receiving a score of 4,793. He placed first in the 55, the 55 hurdles, the shot put and the pole vault.
Finally, Georgetown's Chris Kinney tied a Gerhard Fieldhouse record in the 60 hurdles (7.99).
The Bison men's track & field team will next compete on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, hosting the Gulden Relays.
