Rare Road Trip Awaits Bucknell Track & Field, Bison to Compete at the Armory

1/14/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

By: TBD

Jan. 14, 2011

Saturday Night at the Armory Schedule

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell track and field continues its winter schedule with Saturday Night at the Armory in New York. The meet, which will also include league foes Lafayette, Colgate and Army, will be the Bison's first scored competition of the season and the first of only two meets away from Gerhard Fieldhouse before the Patriot League Championships. Action begins Saturday at 6 p.m. with the shot put, with running events getting underway at 6:30 p.m.

Teams Scheduled to Appear: Cheyney, Colgate, Columbia, Connecticut (women), Delaware State, Lafayette, Millersville, Morgan State, NJIT, Penn (men), Ramapo, St. John's (women), St. Peter's, The College of New Jersey, Temple, UMBC, Villanova, Army

MEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Bucknell won nine events at last Saturday's Gulden Relays. Among the victors was Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton), who won the weight throw with the seventh-best mark in school history at 56 feet, 9 ½ inches and was named the meet's Most Valuable Field Athlete. Other wins included Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) in the 500 meters, the 4x800, the sprint medley relay, the 4x400 and the 4x200 relays. Dan Mularz (Englishtown, N.J./Freehold Township) was third in the 60-meter hurdles, but ran the fifth-fastest time in program history (8.39 seconds).
- A handful of Bison either added their names or improved their standing on the program top-10 lists. None made a bigger splash, however, than the 4x60 shuttle hurdle relay. With a second-place finish in 32.79 seconds, Mularz, Jason Brown (Plainville, Mass./Bishop Feehan), Andrew Powell (Charleton, Mass./St. John's) and Arent set a school record. The previous record had been 33.44 seconds, set in 2007.
- Joseph was one of two Bison to collect honors from the Patriot League on the Monday following the meet. The sophomore was named the league's Field Athlete of the Week, while Alex Prieto (Princeton Junction, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro South) was selected as the Rookie of the Week. Prieto earned a pair of top-five finishes in the long jump (21-2 ¾) and triple jump (44-10 ¼) while posting career-best marks in both.
- With their performances at the Gulden Relays, Isaih Bell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Clarkston) and Joseph became the latest Bison to qualify for March's IC4A Championships. Bell met the standard in the 60 meters, running 6.97 in the prelims, while Joseph qualified in the weight throw. They join Quinten Marcott (Wayland, Mich./Wayland) in the shot put, Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) in the 60-meter dash and Arent in the 60-meter hurdles, who all qualified for the IC4As at the Bison Opener earlier this winter.
- The month-long break between the Bison Opener and the Gulden Relays proved to be helpful for several athletes. At the end of the most recent meet, 11 Bison had recorded 14 season-best marks.
- Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) became the third Bison to add his name to the program top-10 list in the shot put at the Gulden Relays. Barr won the event with a career-best 50-10 ¼. That ties teammate Zachary Shapiro (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional) for sixth all-time at Bucknell. He also joins Marcott, who is ranked third (51-3) in the event
- Twenty-one current Bison have inked their names on the Bucknell program top-10 list at some point in their careers. After adding his name to the school-record running shuttle hurdle relay team last weekend, Arent leads the pack, appearing on various lists eight times. Only four other names currently appear more on the indoor track and field record lists, including Arent's former teammates Kerry Boyle and Kevin MacLeod who are tops with 11 each. Doug Butler is a part of 10 different top-10 lists, while Andrew Yehl is on nine. Thomas MacLean, who set the school records in the indoor 800 and 1000 meters in 1977 and is a member of the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame, appears on eight lists as well.
- It has been quite some time since the Bison have made a similar trip to New York. Bucknell competed at the Armory for the Armory Collegiate Invitational in Feb. 2002. On the men's side, Noel Powell placed second in the long jump (23-6) as a sophomore. Ryan Newberger, then a freshman, was 18th in the 400 meters, while his mark of 49.80 seconds ranked fifth in Bucknell history at that time.

WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Bucknell won seven events at last weekend's Gulden Relays. Among their most dominating performances were the distance medley relay teams. The Bison took first through third in the event, led by Kady Weisner (Saint Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic), Leah Bettner (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area), Stephanie Hardenstine (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area) and Emily Liggett (Grosse Point, Mich./The Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) in a time of 12:38.63.
- Alexandra Romanelli (Galloway, N.J./Absegami) also posted some of the top results of her career on Saturday. The sophomore won the triple jump with a distance of 36-9, giving her a personal-best and the first victory of her career. She also set a career high in the long jump, finishing third with a mark of 17-6 ¾.
- Bucknell's youth came up big in the horizontal jumps at the Gulden Relays. In addition to the sophomore Romanelli's performances, freshmen Alyssa Cardillo (Bath, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) and Sarah Canfield (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) took sixth (17-0) and eighth (16-4 ½) in the long jump, respectively. Canfield was also fourth in the triple jump (34-1 ½). Bringing the experience to the table was senior Casey Krause (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), who was third in the triple jump (35-3 ¾).
- Bucknell had three athletes break into the top-10 for the first time in their indoor careers at the Gulden Relays, and they were all a part of the sprint medley relay. Jennifer Zymet (Paramus, N.J./Paramus), Kristin Bretscher (Farmingville, N.Y./Centereach), Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover) and Hana Casalnova (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) won the event with a time of 4:11.51, ranking fifth all-time at Bucknell. It is the first top-10 mark for freshmen Zymet and Casalnova as well as senior Bretscher. Hornock also owns the third-fastest 60-meter dash time, 7.91, set last year as a rookie.
- Hornock is not the only current Bucknellian ranked in the top-10 of the 60-meter dash. Christina Muccio (Andover, Mass./Andover) is second all-time with a time of 7.90, while Jamie Rasmussen (East Berlin, Conn./Berlin) is tied for sixth (8.00). Olivia Massey (Westport, Conn./Staples) is the latest addition to the group, ranking ninth (8.04) with her performance at the Bison Opener.
- Taylor Funk (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant Area) and Jamie Leacock (Howell, N.J./Howell) finished 1-2 in the 60-meter hurdles last Saturday. Funk's time of 9.27 was a season best, as was Leacock's 9.29.
- When Bucknell competed at the Amory Collegiate Invitational in 2002, the last time the Bison visited the Armory, Kelly McConnell finished fifth in the University mile. Her time of 4:55.74 was then the second-fastest in school history. Today it holds as the No. 3 time in program history. Amy Calvo also set a top-10 mark with a time of 57.40 in the 400 meters. Following the meet, Calvo's time ranked third on the record lists.

LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell will split its squad next weekend, competing at the Bison Open & Multi in Gerhard Fieldhouse and the Penn State National Invitational at Ashenfelter Track. Both meets run Jan. 28-29.