Bison Track & Field Heads to IC4A/ECAC Championships this Weekend
5/12/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 12, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell track and field looks to continue a successful championship season, heading to the IC4A/ECAC Championships following their sweep at the Patriot League meet a week ago. A total of 37 Bison - 20 women and 17 men - will make the trip to Princeton, N.J., May 13-15 looking to improve their standing in the East. Bucknell will begin competition at the William Weaver Track and Field Stadium with the women's discus at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, while action on Saturday and Sunday begins at 10 a.m.
MEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Bucknell won its third Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championship in program history last weekend and its second in as many years. The Bison are the only team other than Army to win back-to-back team titles. The Black Knights won every year from 1992-2007.
- The Orange and Blue claimed eight individual titles at the Patriot League Championships: Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) in the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles, Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain) in the 800, Ted Heitzman (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) in the javelin, Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) in the 100, Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) in the hammer, Luke Webster (Pataskala, Ohio/Newark Catholic) in the discus and the 4x400 relay that included John Picardo (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton Central), Dan Mularz (Englishtown, N.J./Freehold Township), Hicks and Donaldson. Arent was named the Track Athlete of the Meet at the end of competition.
- Champions were named to the First Team All-Patriot League. Earning second team honors were Arent in the 110-meter hurdles, Isaih Bell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Clarkston) in the 200 meters, Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) in the pole vault and high jump, and the 4x100 relay.
- Arent was won the 400 meters and the 400-meter hurdles at each of the last two Patriot League outdoor meets. With four career titles, the junior is tied for seventh-most in outdoor program history, equaling Ron Hess and Bill Reifsnyder. Thomas McLean, Mike Geraghty and Noel Powell each have six individual titles, while Paul Austin, George Buckheit and Greg Keller have five apiece. Of that group, Reifsnyder, McLean, Geraghty and Buckheit are in the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame.
- Three men's school records fell at the Patriot League meet. Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) now holds the top spot in the decathlon (6,552 points), while the 4x100 relay of Marlon Woods (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods), Hicks, Kamal Riley (Hyde Park, Mass./Charlestown) and Bell is first with a time of 40.96 seconds. Arent also overtook the No. 1 spot in the 110-meter hurdles (14.32 seconds). Also the program record-holder in the 400 hurdles, Arent is now one of three Bison currently at the top of a record list. He joins Noel Powell (100 meters and long jump) and McLean (400 and 800 meters).
- In his 100-meter win last weekend, Hicks ran a career-best 10.67 seconds. That ranks seventh in program annals. Teammate Bell recorded the second-best 100-meter time of 10.61 seconds last spring. Those are the fastest times by a Bison since Noel Powell set the school record (10.52) in 2003. Both Hicks and Bell will compete in the 100 meters at the IC4A Championships on Saturday.
- Six Bison punched their tickets for the IC4As at the Patriot League Championships. Those who stepped up in the last possible meet to qualify and will compete include Christopher Boyd (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas S. Wootton) in the 1,500 meters, Fitzgerald in the high jump and pole vault, Andrew Powell in the high jump and Donaldson in the 800. Boyd ran a career-best 3:50.96 last weekend, while Donaldson's 800-meter time of 1:51.01 was also a personal record that also ranks fourth in Bucknell history. Fitzgerald tied his career-best in the pole vault (15-9) and at 6-10 ¼ was just one-half inch of his school record in the high jump. Powell excelled in the high jump as well, clearing a personal-best 6-8 ¼ for fourth in program history.
- Among those Bison who have had little doubt of their plans for this weekend were Joseph and Heitzman. The duo reached the IC4A-qualifying standard in each of their six meets this spring, Joseph in the hammer and Heitzman in the javelin.
- Heitzman, who broke the Patriot League Championship javelin record on Friday with a throw of 232 feet, 4 inches, is ranked 18th nationally. He and Joseph (hammer) are the only two Bison men currently among the country's top 100.
- At last year's IC4A Championships, Arent placed fourth in the 400 hurdles, setting the school record of 51.59 in the process. He was one of four Bison to earn All-East honors along with Heitzman and Steven Pierce in the javelin and Andrew Huebner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Orange and Blue tied for 15th out of 55 in the team standings.
- Of those Bison competing this weekend, 11 of them have already made at least one appearance at the IC4A Championships in their careers. Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS), Fitzgerald, Hietzman, Mularz and Powell have twice competed previously.
- Bucknell has had four IC4A champions in program history. McLean won the 800 meters in both 1976 and 1977, Jerry Katz won the 10K walk in 1980 and Bob Kelly was tops in the 10,000 meters in 1992. Since Kelly's performance, no Bison has finished better than third in any event.
WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Bucknell claimed its third straight Patriot League title and the 12th in program history last weekend. The only time the Bison have strung together more consecutive championships was 1999-02 and 2004-07 when they won four straight titles.
- The Bison took five individual titles at the league meet. Leah Goeke (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Jamie Leacock (Howell, N.J./Howell) in the 400-meter hurdles, Laura Rycek (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) in the javelin, Jennifer Zymet (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) in the 400 meters and the 4x100 relay of Zymet, Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant), Christina Muccio (Andover, Mass./Andover) and Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover) all earned First Team All-Patriot League accolades.
- Even more Bison received second team all-league honors: Kelly Grosskurth (Huntington Station, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills East) in the steeplechase, Hornock in the 100, Rebecca Misko (Morristown, N.J./Madison) in the discus and shot put, Sarah Moniz (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Regional) in the 5,000 meters, Zymet in the 200 and the 4x800 of Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), Hana Casalnova (Grove City, Pa./Grove City), Beth Braunegg (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.) and Moniz.
- Two Bucknell records fell last weekend. Rycek threw 158-7 in the javelin, topping former teammate Beverly Rogers' 157-3 set in 2008. The 4x100 relay ran 47.70 seconds, making them the first Bison quartet to finish in under 48 seconds.
- Including the school records, 18 new program top-10 marks were set in 14 events last weekend. That includes at least one new mark in every distance from 100 meters to the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
- Thanks in part to Emily Liggett (Grosse Pointe, Mich./The Lawrenceville School (N.J.)), four current Bison rank among the program's top 10 in the 1,500 meters. Liggett's performance at the Patriot League meet moved her into sixth all-time at Bucknell with a mark of 4:34.55, joining No. 2 Moniz, No. 8 Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) and No. 9 Tolli. The last time at least three teammates were on the 1,500-meter record list during the same season was in 2006 with Christa Sawko, Lauren Bricker and Erin Cranmer-Hart. The 1,500 is also the only event that has four current Bison ranked among the program's top 10.
- There are only three events still be competed that do not have any current Bison ranked among Bucknell's top 10 - the high jump, hammer throw and 4x400 relay.
- Three Bison rank in the top 100 nationally and they're all javelin throwers. Rycek is 25th, Kat Folger (Groton, Mass./Bishop Guertin) is 79th and Siegrist is 83rd. All three are also in contention for an NCAA Regional spot as they also rank among the top 48 in the East Region.
- Of the 20 Bison competing at the ECAC Championships this weekend, four met the qualifying standard at the Patriot League meet. Goeke, Zymet and Leacock all received automatic spots thanks to their individual victories. Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison) qualified in the javelin with a career-best 144-1, which was good for third at the meet and fourth all-time in program annals.
- Goeke's Patriot League steeplechase time of 11:03.44 was a personal record that ranks third in Bucknell history. The sophomore, who took up the event at the end of last season, has set a program top-10 mark in three of her four races this spring. Her latest performance was a full 23 seconds faster than her season debut at the Susquehanna Invitational.
- The Colonial Relays produced four ECAC qualifiers and three of them were in the 10,000 meters. Alaina Chodoff (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East), Eileen Foley (Herndon, Va./Chantilly) and Melissa Smith (Mercer, Pa./Mercer Area) each ran the fastest times of their career in Virginia to earn their first spot on an ECAC roster.
- Of those Bison competing this weekend, eight have made at least one previous appearance at the ECAC Championships. Fulmer and Rycek are the most experienced, having competed twice before.
- Rycek and Chelsey Musante were the only Bison to claim All-East honors at last year's championship at Princeton. Both earned sixth-place finishes, Musante in the shot put with a school-record 46-10 ¼ and Rycek in the javelin.
- The Bison have two ECAC champions in program history. Melanie Buczko won the pole vault in 2004, while the 4x800 (Jennifer Marsh, Amy Calvo, Bricker and Sawko) won in 2005. The last top-three finish came in 2007 courtesy of Marjorie Grap's second-place performance in the hammer.
LOOKING AHEAD
Next up for a select number of Bison are the NCAA East Regionals. Technically the first rounds of the NCAA Championships, the meet is set for May 26-28 in Bloomington, Ind. Those athletes with a top-48 mark in the East Region this spring will qualify. As of the last report, three men - Joseph (hammer), Heitzman (javelin) and Powell (decathlon) - and three women - Rycek, Folger and Siegrist (all javelin) - are among the top 48. Fitzgerald is 49th in the high jump.