Bucknell University
Colonial Relays
Bucknell Track & Field's Barr, Powell, Rycek Take Gold in Day One of Colonial Relays
4/1/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 1, 2011
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Bucknell track and field opened the William & Mary Colonial Relays with three program top-10 marks and two individual victories at Zable Stadium on Friday. Among the victors were Laura Rycek (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area), who won her second consecutive javelin title, and Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle HS), who cleared the 50-foot mark for the gold medal in the shot put. Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) also won the high jump. The Bison will continue their quest tomorrow during the final day of the Colonial Relays.
Rycek won the javelin last weekend with a career-best throw and, although the senior could not improve on that distance, her performance was still good enough for yet another first-place finish. At the relay meet, Rycek threw 142 feet, 10 inches to lead the field. Kat Folger (Groton, Mass./Bishop Guertin) was fourth in the event (133-1).
Powell was part of a three-way tie for first in the high jump after clearing 6-6 ¼. The height was less than an inch off his personal outdoor best.
Barr's victory in the shot put came with a mark of 50-0 ½. It was the junior's first win of the year in any event after he placed second in three throws events last weekend. Taking his place in the runner-up position was teammate Quinten Marcott (Wayland, Mich./Wayland). Marcott tied for second with Rutgers' James Plummer at 49-9.
Earlier in the day, Barr had placed fourth in the hammer throw (164-3). Among those placing higher was Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton). Joseph took second place in the event with a throw of 188-5. That improved on his own personal best by more than six feet set just a week ago. He now ranks sixth all-time at Bucknell.
The Orange and Blue's other program top-10 times came on the track. On the women's side, Alaina Chodoff (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) completed the 10,000 meters in 37 minutes, 07.21 seconds. The outing moved her into 10th place in program annals by a mere 0.71 seconds. It also made her one of three runners at the Colonial Relays to break the meet record of 37:11.49.
Chodoff was third in the 10,000. Just behind her were fellow Bison Melissa Smith (Mercer, Pa./Mercer Area) in fourth (37:24.34) and Eileen Foley (Herndon, Va./Chantilly) in fifth (37:40.19).
Clayton Smith (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) inked his name into the top-10 of the 800 meters for the first time as well. The senior is now sixth all-time at Bucknell and was 11th in the race, crossing the line in 1:52.11.
Other highlights around the track included a handful of finals qualifiers in the hurdles. Taylor Funk (Mount Pleasant, Pa./Mount Pleasant Area) and Jamie Leacock (Howell, N.J./Howell) both advance to tomorrow's 100-meter hurdles finals for the women's squad. Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence), Dan Mularz (Englishtown, N.J./Freehold Township) and Jason Brown (Plainville, Mass./Bishop Feehan) qualified in the 110-meter hurdles. Arent's 14.85 was the top time in the prelims.
Arent and Mularz both claimed points in the 400-meter hurdles as well. Arent finished fourth with a time of 53.19 seconds, knocking more than four seconds off his finish from a week ago at the Towson Invitational. Mularz was sixth (54.80).
Adding to the Bucknell men's team's point total was a second-place performance Ted Heitzman (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) in the javelin. It was the second consecutive year in which Heitzman took silver at the Colonial Relays, this year coming with a distance of 211-9.
Bucknell will close out competition at the Colonial Relays on Saturday. Field events start at 9 a.m., beginning with the women's discus. The track events open at 11 a.m. with the women's 3,000 meters.
