Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track and Field Sends 11 Athletes to NCAA East Regional Meet
5/26/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 26, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's track and field program will send 11 athletes to the NCAA East Regional Championship meet in Greensboro, N.C. this coming weekend (May 29-30). The meet will take place at North Carolina's A&T State University. The first events will be the men's hammer throw and women's javelin throw at 11 a.m. on Friday. The Bison have six female qualifiers and five male qualifiers and three of those athletes will compete in multiple events.
Bucknell will send its largest amount of qualifiers in Bison head coach Kevin Donner's reign. A good sign for the future of Bucknell's track and field program is the amount of underclassmen in the contingent of the Bison's qualifiers.
"Ten of the 11 NCAA Regional Qualifiers are returning next year, so that's exciting." Donner said.
For the men, Bucknell is sending juniors Andrew Huebner (steeplechase), Kyle Anthony (triple jump), Timothy Medlock (shot put) and Steven Pierce (javelin), sophomore Drew Fitzgerald (pole vault and high jump) and freshman Ted Heitzman (javelin). Bucknell is sending senior Megan Hathaway (800), junior Amy Mantush (triple jump and high jump), sophomore Rebecca Frey (pole vault) and freshmen Sarah Bella (shot put and discus) and Stephanie Fulmer (1500) for women.
The Bison will have Pierce throwing for the first time since the Patriot League Championships, when he was humbled by a foot injury. In the first meet of the season, Pierce qualified for the regional meet for the second time in his Bucknell career. He is currently ranked 54th nationally in the javelin.
"Pierce is a wild card," Donner said. "He came out and threw so far in his first meet then got injured. I wouldn't be surprised if he popped a big one."
In the triple jump, Anthony, who is ranked 74th nationally, will try to continue his string of big jumps. At the IC4A Championships, Anthony placed third overall with his leap of 49 feet, 11 ¾ inches.
"Anthony's been PRing every time he steps on the runway," Donner said. "He's got the hot hand."
Huebner will be the sole Bison male in a running event, with his 69th ranked-nationally mark of 9 minute, 2.4 second steeplechase, which he ran at the Bison Outdoor Classic to qualify for the regional meet as well as his conference victory at Patriot Leagues.
The Bison women will be led by Mantush, who won the Patriot League high jump and triple jump titles and ranks 89th and 108th nationally, respectively. In the running events, Bucknell will have Patriot League champions Fulmer and Hathaway competing in the 1,500 and 800, respectively.
"This meet is made for smaller teams like us who don't get to go the bigger meets with the perfect weather," Donner said.
At last year's meet, Bucknell had five qualifiers, with their best performance coming from senior Beverly Rogers who set a school record (157-3) while finishing ninth overall in the region.
To qualify for the NCAA Championship meet an athlete must finish top-five overall or receive an at-large bid from the NCAA.
Bucknell's NCAA Regional qualifiers and when they compete
Men
Triple Jump - Kyle Anthony - 5/30 12 p.m.
High Jump - Drew Fitzgerald - 5/30 5 p.m.
Pole Vault - Drew Fitzgerald - 5/29 3 p.m.
Javelin - Ted Heitzman - 5/30 11 a.m.
Steeplechase - Andrew Huebner - 5/30 8:10 p.m.
Shot Put - Timothy Medlock - 5/30 3 p.m.
Javelin - Steven Pierce - 5/30 11 a.m.
Women
Discus - Sarah Bella - 5/30 5 p.m.
Shot Put - Sarah Bella - 5/29 3 p.m.
1,500 - Stephanie Fulmer - 5/29 4:35 p.m.
Pole Vault - Rebecca Frey - 5/30 3 p.m.
800 - Megan Hathaway - 5/30 3 p.m.
High Jump - Amy Mantush - 5/29 5 p.m.
Triple Jump - Amy Mantush - 5/30 12 p.m.
