Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Bucknell Men's Track Finishes Second at Patriot League Championships
2/21/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 21, 2010
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Bucknell men's track and field battled to the end but could not hold off Army as it took second to the Black Knights at the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships at West Point's Gillis Fieldhouse on Sunday. The Bison placed just six points behind the Black Knights, 165-159, in one of the closes finishes in league history.
Bucknell led Army by just 10 points after the first two days of competition, but the Black Knights came back for the narrow victory in the end. The six-point difference marks just the second time in history the men's championship has been decided by fewer than 10 points. Only the 2004 title was more closely contested with Navy edging out Army 177.75 to 175.75.
At the 2010 championship meet, Army and Bucknell held a relatively comfortable lead over the rest of the field. Navy finished third with 115 points, followed by Lafayette (76), American (42), Lehigh (41), Colgate (20) and Holy Cross (2).
Helping the Bison to their strong showing were three more individual gold medal performances. Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) defended his title in the triple jump with a distance of 49 feet, 6 1/2 inches. Anthony now has won the indoor triple jump in three of his four seasons in the Orange and Blue.
Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) had a hand in Bucknell's other two titles, first winning the 400 meters and then running the third leg of the first-place 4x400 relay. In the open 400, Arent crossed the line in 48.94 seconds, less than a second ahead of the second- and third-place finishers, both from Army.
Arent was joined on the winning 4x400 team by Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Wilmington), Evan Novakowski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) and John Picardo (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton Central).
Hicks had even more success away from the relay. The freshman also took third in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes. Hicks posted a time of 6.95 seconds in the 60, just one-tenth of a second behind the winning runner from Army. In the 200, Hicks crossed the line in 22.24 seconds. In the end, those times and places added up to a Patriot League Rookie of the Meet honor for Hicks.
Hicks was not the only Bison to succeed in the sprints. Isaih Bell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Clarkston) scored in both short sprints, taking fourth in the 60 (9.98) and sixth in the 200 (22.70). Thomas McGarrigle (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep) was fifth in the 60 meters with a time of 7.08 seconds.
Among Bucknell's other top finishers on the track were Andrew Yehl (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) in the 60-meter hurdles and Clayton Smith (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) in the 800. Both runners finished second in their respective events. Picardo also took third in the 500, while Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain) was fourth.
In the field events, Bucknell placed a pair of athletes in the top four of both the pole vault and the shot put. Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) was third in the pole vault, clearing 15-3. Ryan White (Elkins Park, Pa./Father Judge) was right behind his younger teammate in fourth with a clearance of 14-9.
Timothy Medlock (Evan Mills, N.Y./Indian River) was second in the shot with a throw of 52-6, while Jonathan Lockhart (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) was fourth. Lockhart's mark of 51-0 3/4 improved his personal best and now ranks him fourth all-time at Bucknell.
Fitzgerald and Medlock also scored in yesterday's action with Fitzgerald taking a third-place finish in the high jump and Medlock going in fifth in the weight throw with the 10th-best mark at Bucknell.
With its three individual titles on the final day of competition, Bucknell finished the meet with a total of four. White earned victory in the heptathlon.
The second-place team finish is the third straight for the Bison. Bucknell was runner-up to Army a year ago as well.
Bucknell will have a week off before returning to competition for the IC4A Championships. The meet will be held March 6-7 in Boston, Mass.
