Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Patriot League Championships
Bucknell Men's Track & Field In First at Patriot League Championships on Strength of Field Events
4/30/2010 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 30, 2010
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's men's track put itself in first place after the first day of the Patriot League Championships at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Friday. Helping the Bison to their place in the team standings were gold medal performances from Steven Pierce (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) in the javelin and Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) in the long jump.
With one day remaining in the championship meet, Bucknell holds a slim edge over the field. The Bison are tops with 44 points, while Navy (34 points) and Army (32) are close behind in second and third, respectively. Rounding out the standings are Lafayette (28) in fourth, Lehigh (20) in fifth, American (18) in sixth, Colgate (6) in seventh and Holy Cross (4) in eighth.
Pierce claimed Bucknell's first win of the championships on both the men's and the women's side. The senior's mark of 225 feet, 1 inch in the javelin came on his last throw in the finals, smashing his previous career best by nearly 10 feet and giving him the lead for good. The throw also moved him into third all-time on the Bison top-10 list and gave him the first Patriot League title of his career.
Ted Heitzman (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) helped the Bison keep the fireworks going in the javelin by finishing second. He also set a career-best mark at 218-6.
Handing Bucknell its second victory of the day was Anthony in the long jump. The senior is no stranger to the winner's podium, collecting his fourth Patriot League title overall and second outdoors. His jump of 23-11 ¼ was a career-best and helped him maintain his hold on fourth all-time in the event at Bucknell.
Moving into fifth in program history in the long jump was Isaih Bell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Clarkston). Bell finished fourth at the meet in a tightly contested event. The top four competitors posted marks within a single foot of each other with Bell coming in at 23-10 ¼.
Getting the success going on the track was the 4x800 relay of Christopher Boyd (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton), Kyle Ramer (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield), Clayton Smith (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) and Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain). The squad placed fourth in a time of 7 minutes, 34.78 seconds, which ranks sixth all-time at Bucknell.
Back in the throws, Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) took fourth in the hammer. The freshman continued the trend of posting career-best marks, throwing 168-4 and moving into 10th place in the Bucknell record books.
Several Bison qualified for the finals in the sprints and hurdles, which will be contested tomorrow. Leading the pack was Bell who ran the top qualifying time in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) also advanced to the finals in both sprints, while Thomas McGarrigle (Malvern, pa./Malvern Prep) will compete in the 100 as well.
Bucknell continued to have a strong showing in the hurdles, qualifying three for the finals of the 110 high hurdles. Andrew Yehl (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) was second in the prelims with a time of 14.40 seconds. Close behind was Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) and Dan Mularz (Englishtown, N.J./Freehold Township), who both posted program top-10 times. Arent was third in the prelims at 14.53 seconds, and Mularz was fifth in 15.02.
The championship meet will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the decathlon 110 meter hurdles.
