Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field Takes Top Two Spots in Patriot League Preseason Poll
3/18/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
March 18, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's outdoor track and field earned the top spot in the Patriot League Preseason Poll and the men's squad took second the league announced on Thursday. The Bison women led all teams with 98 points and 14 first-place votes after claiming the league title a year ago. The men, who totaled 80 points and two first-place votes in the 2010 poll, earned their highest preseason ranking in six years.
Bucknell women's track and field captured its 10th Patriot League outdoor championships in 2009 and continued its winning streak at the 2010 league indoor championship meet. That successful stretch has become the norm for the Bison who took the top spot in the outdoor track preseason poll for the fifth time in the last six years.
Trailing Bucknell in the latest edition of the women's poll was Navy in second place with 86 points and two first-place votes and Army in third with 65 points. Lehigh (62) and Holy Cross (51) were fourth and fifth, respectively, while Colgate (42), Lafayette (26) and American (18) rounded out the group.
The Bucknell men finished second in the 2010 poll behind first-place Army, which took 98 points and 14 first-place votes. Like the Bison, Navy also totaled 80 points but did not receive any first-place vote. Lafayette (58) and Lehigh (46) took the fourth and fifth positions in the preseason rankings, followed by American (38), Colgate (26) and Holy Cross (22).
The Bison placed third in the league's preseason poll in each of the last three years and twice finished higher than its ranking during that stretch. Bucknell took second at last year's PL outdoor championship meet behind the Black Knights. The Bison narrowly missed a team title at the 2010 indoor championships, again placing behind Army but by a mere six points.
The Patriot League Preseason Poll is determined by a vote of schools' head coaches and sports information directors who cannot vote for their own teams.
Bucknell opens its 2010 outdoor track and field season Saturday, March 27. The squads will split their time between the Maryland Invitational in College Park, Md., and the Susquehanna Invitational in Selinsgrove, Pa. Later in the season, the Bison will host the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium April 30 and May 1.
Women's Preseason Poll
1. Bucknell - 98 (14)
2. Navy - 86 (2)
3. Army - 65
4. Lehigh - 62
5. Holy Cross - 51
6. Colgate - 42
7. Lafayette - 26
8. American - 18
Men's Preseason Poll
1. Army - 98 (14)
T2. Bucknell - 80 (2)
T2. Navy - 80
4. Lafayette - 58
5. Lehigh - 46
6. American - 38
7. Colgate - 26
8. Holy Cross - 22
