Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Cross Country Readies for Saturday's Patriot League Championships
10/27/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 27, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell cross country has finally reached the meet it has been working toward all fall. The Bison will compete at the Patriot League Championships, hosted by Lehigh at Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday. The men, which are looking to improve on their sixth-place showing from a year ago, will race at 11 a.m., while the women will go for their ninth title in program history at noon.
The Bucknell women's squad has long been among the best in the Patriot League, claiming eight conference championships since 1998 and only finishing lower than second place twice during that stretch. Bucknell's last win came in 2009, which was also the last campaign in which Kevin Donner was named the league's Coach of the Year in women's cross country. The Bison were runners-up last season, when Colgate earned its first-ever title with 42 points, just ahead of Bucknell with 64.
"The women's race has the potential to be one of the closest and most competitive races in many years. There are many great individual runners who are seniors that have developed into great runners over the past three or four years," said Donner. "Navy seems to be the favorite based on early season results. However, it looks like Army, Colgate and Lehigh are all dark horses. Any of these teams can win it all.
"We will be running a veteran team that seems to be coming around at the right time, and if we have our top seven put it together on the same day, we could be right in the mix as well," Donner continued. "This has been a great senior class and I believe they have the experience to handle the big meet pressure."
Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) has done her part to keep the Bison in the top half of the standings since she arrived at Bucknell. The current senior finished second and was named the Rookie of the Week at the 2008 championship meet before going on to earn another set of First Team All-League citations with a pair of sixth-place finishes as a sophomore and junior. This Saturday, Fulmer will attempt to become just the third Bison in program history to be named all-league four times in her career, joining Becki Marshall (1998-2001) and Theresa Dennis (1999-2002).
The only other current Bison to be named all-league during her career is senior Alysha Hooper (Meaford, Ontario/St. Mary's). Hooper was 14th at last year's meet, doing one better than her finish as a sophomore. In addition to Fulmer and Hooper, Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), Kelly Grosskurth (Huntington Station, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills East) and Melissa Smith (Mercer, Pa./Mercer Area) have also been among Bucknell's top seven in previous league meets.
While the women have a wealth of experience returning, the Bison men are a little thinner in that area. Only Dave Brown (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) and Robert Yamnicky (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) have placed among Bucknell's top seven in previous championship meets. Brown led Bucknell with a 23rd-place finish at last year's meet when the Bison were sixth. He was also seventh on the squad as a freshman in 2008. Yamnicky was 28th overall, and third among Bison, last season. It was the junior's first time in the top 30.
"We will be running a very young and inexperienced team," said Donner of his men's squad. "We have had as many as three or four freshmen in our top seven on any given race. Health issues and injuries have affected our season quite a bit.
"There is no pressure on this team, and our guys are looking forward to a great challenge to finish in the top half of the league," he continued. "It has been a very committed and dedicated team with great leadership, and we are ready to start getting this program going in the right direction."
Bucknell has six conference titles in program history with the last coming in 1999. The Bison will have a lot of ground to cover to move up the standings and have a chance at a seventh win. Navy, who topped second-place American by nine points last fall, is looking for its fourth consecutive title.
Saturday's course should be familiar to the Bison, as it is the same route as the Paul Short Memorial Invitational from earlier this season. The men were 38th in the team standings and fourth among Patriot League opponents in the eight-kilometer race. Navy (11th), American (18th) and Lehigh (20th) took the top spots for the conference. D.J. Krystek (Pitcairn, Pa./Gateway Senior) was the lone Bison in the top 100, but Brown and Dan Dillon (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) were not far behind.
The women were 28th overall, and fourth among Patriot League squads, in the team standings at the Paul Short Invite. Fulmer and Emily Liggett (Grosse Pointe, Mich./The Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) were the top finishers for the Bison, completing the 6K course in 22:40 and 22:42, respectively. Navy (15th), Army (22nd) and Lehigh (24th) all topped Bucknell in Bethlehem.
Bucknell has two more stops on the schedule after the Patriot League Championships. First up are the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships at Princess Anne, Md., on Nov. 12, followed by the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 19.
