Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Track and Field Teams Kick Off Outdoor Season This Saturday
3/26/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
March 26, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's and women's track and field teams will kick off their outdoor season Saturday at two meets. A fraction of the two teams will be at the Maryland Invitational in College Park, Md., and the remaining athletes will compete at the Susquehanna Jim Taylor Invitational in Selinsgrove, Pa.
Patriot League preseason polls had the women ranked second in the conference behind Navy and the men third behind Army in first, and Navy in second. Both teams took second at last month's Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The Bison will return to action next weekend at the William and Mary Colonial Relays.
Men's top performers:
Throws:
The Bison's top shot putter, junior Timothy Medlock (Evan Mills, N.Y./Indian River), the school-record holder in the event, will likely score big points for Bucknell. Sophomore Zachary Shapiro (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional), who joins Medlock in the school's record book, is also looking to perform big and have a solid outdoor season.
Sprints:
There is a wide array of short sprinters for the Bison. Junior Andrew Yehl (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) is coming off of an impressive indoor season, where he claimed the Patriot League championship in the 60-meter hurdles and set a school-record (8.16). Yehl is also the 110-meter high hurdles program record holder.
Senior Kerry Boyle has a collection of some of the fastest sprints ever at Bucknell. The NCAA East Regional qualifier last year has the school record in the outdoors 200, 300 and 400 and isa member of the school-record 4x400 relay team indoors and ranks among the top-10 in several other sprinting events. Kevin MacLeod returns as well as one of the top sprinters and 400-meter hurdlers in the Patriot League. MacLeod won the Patriot League 400 hurdle title last year and also owns the school record (51.87).
Juniors Clement Gyan (Yonkers, N.Y./Abraham Lincoln) and Sean Coyne (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township), freshman Dan Mularz (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township) and sophomores John Quezada (South Hamilton, Mass./St. John's Preparatory) and Marlon Woods (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) should all make their presence know this outdoor season.
Mid-distance:
The Bison are led by a handful of runners in the middle distances: junior Kyle Ramer (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) and sophomores Evan Novakowski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), Jake Schroeder (York, Pa./York Suburban), Christopher Boyd (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas S. Whooton) and Clay Smith (Sparta N.J./Pope John XXIII). Smith took third in the 800 at most recent Patriot Leagues and Ramer took fifth in the 1,000.
Distance:
Juniors Andrew Huebner (Hampton Falls, N.H./Governor Dummer Academy) and Baron Willeford (New Orleans, La./Columbia Prep (N.Y.)) and senior Clinton Orloski (Butler, Pa./Slippery Rock) lead the Bison in the distance events. Huebner is the top steeplechaser for Bucknell, with a personal-best time of 9:17.57. Willeford and Orloski will look to contribute in the 5,000 and 10,000 distances this outdoor season.
Jumps:
This may be the strongest set of events for the Bison as they have the top three returning high jumpers from last month's Patriot League Championships. Sophomore Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, Pa./Ballston Spa) won the event with a leap of 6 feet, 10 ¼ inches. Sophomore Nicholas Hruch (Sykesville, Md./Liberty) took second, jumping 6-8 ¼. Freshman Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) took third with a leap of 6-6 ¼ for the Bison. All three rank on Bucknell's all-time performance list. Fitzgerald, took second at the most recent SPatriot League Championships in that event as Bucknell's top pole-vaulter.
Junior Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) will surely score big points from the Bison this outdoor season in the long and triple jumps. Anthony recently took first place in the triple jump and third in the long jump at the indoor Patriot League meet, and looks to carry this momentum outdoors.
Multi-events:
Junior Ryan White (Elkins Park, Pa./Father Judge) and Powell lead the Bison in the multi-events as the top third and fourth finishers in this past winter's Patriot League Championships.
Women's top performers:
Throws:
Junior Chelsey Musante (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) will be returning from her strong indoor campaign and looking to hit ECAC-Qualifying marks in the throws. Freshman Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) also had a strong indoor season, earning herself a fifth-place spot on Bucknell's all-time performance list in the shot put. Bella will look to produce top marks outdoors as well.
Sprints:
In the short-length sprints, freshman Christina Muccio (Andover, Mass./Andover) and junior Stephanie Evans (York, Pa./Central York) will look to be contenders for a Patriot League title. Muccio produced season bests of 26.08 in the 200 and 7.90 in the 60 during this indoor campaign. Evans ranks on Bucknell's top-10 performance list in both the 100 and 200.
Junior Jennifer Pierce (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J./Northern Highlands) and senior Megan Hathaway (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) will look to lead the Bison in the longer sprints. Hathaway set a school record in the 500 this past winter with a 1:14.25 clocking. Pierce produced the seventh-fastest mark in school history in the 400, running 58.03.
Mid-distance:
Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) capped a fantastic indoor season at the ECAC Championships, with a historic sub-five minute clocking in the women's mile. Fulmer crossed the line in 4:59.16 to be the fifth-fastest Bucknell athlete in that event. She will look to carry that momentum into the outdoor season. Senior Jenny Dalzell (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional), Bucknell's fifth fastest 800 runner, will be returning and certainly contributing in the relays and middle distances.
Distance:
Bucknell's distance squad of senior Gillian Nordquist (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and sophomores Alaina Chodoff (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) and Sarah Moniz (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Regional) will produce big points and top marks for the Bison this outdoor season. Nordquist is fresh off a seventh-place finish at Patriot Leagues, where she ran 17:53.91.
Jumps:
In the triple jump, the Bison are led by Meghan Frate (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), a freshman, who placed second at the Patriot League Championships with a 37-1 ¾ leap. The Bison's top long jumpers from the indoor season were junior Amy Mantush (Drums, Pa./Hazleton) and sophomore Casey Krause (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).
In the high jump, Mantush and sophomore Emily Moles (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) placed third and fourth at Patriot Leagues, respectively, and look to rack up big points for the Bison.
The pole vault will be led by sophomore Rebecca Frey (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), who vaulted to a 12-1 ½ mark this past winter for a personal best. Frey is third on Bucknell's indoor performance list.
Multi-events:
Taking seventh in the pentathlon at Patriot Leagues, sophomore Kristin Bretscher is the Bison's top returning multi-eventer from the winter season. She totaled 2,959 points at the meet.
