Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field's Hornock Picked Susquehanna Valley Limo Bison Athlete of the Week; Casalnova, Sacks Named PL Rookies of the Week
1/31/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 31, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the third straight week, Bucknell women's track and field claimed the Patriot League Rookie of the Week with Hana Casalnova (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) receiving the honor on Monday. Also earning recognition for their standout performances last weekend were Chris Sacks (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane), who was named the league's Rookie of the Week on the men's side, and Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover), the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week.
On Bucknell's home track, Hornock claimed a pair of individual titles at the Bison Open & Multi to earn her first career Bison Athlete of the Week accolade. The sophomore put together two of her best 60-meter races in succession, running 7.83 seconds in the prelims. That gave her a career best until the finals when she improved to 7.77 seconds for the win and a near-school record. Hornock's finals time ranks second at Bucknell and is just .02 seconds behind Tolu Fayanjuola's record of 7.75.
Hornock also won the long jump for the second time this season. With a distance of 18 feet, ¼ inch, she bettered her closest competitor by nearly a foot. She now has broken the 18-foot mark twice for the best two marks by a Bison this season.
Casalnova put up a pair of ECAC-qualifying times and helped the distance medley relay to one of the fastest finishes in program history at the Penn State National Invitational Jan. 28-29. In the 800 meters, the freshman placed 12th with a time of 2:15.08, just one second shy of the career best she ran two weeks ago at The Armory.
Casalnova also ran the 800-meter leg of the distance medley, which took sixth place at Penn State's Ashenfelter Track. The team's time of 11:52.72 is the sixth-fastest in program annals and qualified them for the ECAC Championships in March.
Though just a few months into her Bucknell career, Casalnova's name can be found on four different program top-10 lists. After breaking into the record books as a member of the sprint medley relay, the newcomer joined the leaders in the 500 meters (10th, 1:16.81) and 800 meters (9th; 2:14.57). Casalnova is no stranger to Patriot League accolades either, as she was also named the top rookie on Jan. 17. Along with Jennifer Zymet's (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) rookie citation last week, Bucknell has claimed each of the last three awards from the Patriot League.
Earning his first award of the track season was Sacks who also brought a wealth of success in the middle distances. Sacks took fifth in the 1000 meter invitational race at Penn State with a time of 2:27.14. The mark was a career best and gave him the 10th-fastest time in program history.
Even more impressively, Sacks anchored the distance medley relay that recorded Bucknell's third-best time ever. The team, which also included Christopher Boyd (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas Sprigg Wootton), Dennis Logan (Pittsburg, Pa./Baldwin) and Clayton Smith (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII), won the relay in 9:55.24. No Bucknell unit has run the distance medley faster since 1979.
Sacks, who has now qualified for the IC4A Championships in the 1000 meters, mile and distance medley relay, was twice named the league's Rookie of the Week during cross country season.
Bucknell will next compete with a select number of athletes at Yale's Geigengack Invitational on Feb. 5. The team will be back at full force the following weekend when it hosts the Bucknell Winter Classic at Gerhard Fieldhouse on Feb. 12. The Winter Classic is the Bison's final meet before the Patriot League Championships Feb. 18-20.
