Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Gulden Relays
Bucknell Women's Track & Field Claims Seven Golds at Gulden Relays
1/9/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Jan. 9, 2011
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's track and field returned to Gerhard Fieldhouse in strong fashion, claiming seven gold medals and a handful of other top five finishes at the 10th Annual Gulden Relays on Saturday. Among the winners were five relays, Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant Area) in the 60-meter hurdles and Alexandra Romanelli (Galloway, N.J./Absegami) in the triple jump.
"I thought it was an outstanding start to our indoor season considering the long layoff and the very hard week of practice," said head coach Kevin Donner following the unscored meet. "We had a lot of fun with the relays and our athletes really competed well. You could tell most of them worked out very well on their own over the three-week break. It was a great rust-buster."
Few relay teams broke off the rust like the sprint medley relay. The Bison quartet crossed the line in 4 minutes, 11.91 seconds, nearly six seconds ahead of second-place Mount St. Mary's. The time also moved the team into fifth place all-time at Bucknell.
Also earning victories on the day were the shuttle hurdle, 4x800, distance medley and 4x200 relays. Bucknell was particularly dominant in the distance medley as the home team swept first through third places. The top unit crossed the line in 12:38.63 with :03 to spare before the next two squads.
Funk claimed the top spot in the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.27 seconds. The junior just eked out the victory over teammate Jamie Leacock (Howell, N.J./Howell) and UMBC's Fallon Rovel-Jones. Leacock and Rovel-Jones tied for second with an identical 9.29.
Romanelli and the Bison had similar success in the horizontal jumps. In addition to her win in the long jump with a distance of 36 feet, 9 inches, Bucknell also took third through fifth in the event with the help of Casey Krause (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), Sarah Canfield (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) and Meghan Frate (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder). Romanelli's good day continued in the long jump where she placed third (17-6 ¾).
In other field events, Rebecca Misko (Morristown, N.J./Madison) was third in the shot put (40-8 ¼) and fifth in the weight throw (42-11). Besting her in the weight throw was younger teammate Abby Monaghan (La Plata, Md./La Plata), who was fourth with a throw of 48-10 ¾. Rebecca Frey (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), who was competing in her first meet of the indoor campaign, was second in the pole vault, clearing 10-9 ¾.
Back on the track, Melissa Smith (Mercer, Pa./Mercer Area) anchored the distance unit with a second-place finish in the mile. The junior crossed the line in 5:28.10.
Bucknell will be back in action next Saturday when it competes at Saturday Night at the Armory in New York.
