Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Throwers Eye National Championship Berths at NCAA East Preliminaries
5/25/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 25, 2011
Additional Links:
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The competition is getting tighter and the squad size is getting smaller with five Bison vying for a spot at the national track and field championships when they compete at the NCAA East Preliminaries this week. Ted Heitzman (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia), Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton), Laura Rycek (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area), Kat Folger (Groton, Mass./Bishop Guertin) and Tayler Siegrist (Madison, N.J./Madison) will make the trip to Indiana University's Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind., May 26-28 in an attempt to become Bucknell's first national qualifiers in at least four years.
For those who cannot make the trip to Bloomington, live video and results will be available at Live\ Results\/Video.
BUCKNELL AT THE NCAA EAST PRELIMINARIES
(Subject to change)
Thursday, May 26
12 p.m.: Men's Javelin (Ted Heitzman)
Friday, May 27
11 a.m.: Men's Hammer (Leonard Joseph)
12 p.m.: Women's Javelin (Kat Folger, Laura Rycek, Tayler Siegrist)
BISON NOTEBOOK
- All five of Bucknell's 2011 NCAA East Preliminaries qualifiers are throwers. Heitzman, Rycek, Folger and Siegrist will compete in the javelin, while Joseph will challenge in the hammer throw. Both school record holders in the javelin, Heitzman and Rycek enter competition in the best position to extend their seasons. Heitzman is 11th in the East region, while Rycek is seventh. Those athletes finishing in the top 12 this week will advance to the national championships.
- That Bucknell's regional representatives are throwers should come as no surprise since the group has been putting up strong performances from the start of the spring. Four of Bucknell's five qualifiers recorded what were then season bests in the first meet of the season. Heitzman improved to 221 feet, 10 inches in the men's javelin and Joseph to 182-1 in the hammer. Rycek came within mere feet of the school record in the women's javelin with a throw of 154-10 and Folger improved her top mark to 143-0. Heitzman, Joseph and Rycek all won their events at the Towson Invitational, while Folger and Siegrist placed second and third, respectively.
- All five throwers inked their names in the Bucknell record books earlier in their careers and all five improved their standing in the top 10 this spring. Heitzman took over the No. 1 spot in the javelin at the Bison Outdoor Classic on April 15 with a record throw of 237-8. Rycek joined the action with a record-breaking 158-7 at the Patriot League Championships earlier this month. Folger (144-6) is now third all-time at Bucknell, while Siegrist (144-1) is fourth. Joseph moved all the way from 10th in the hammer at the end of last year to fifth with a throw of 193-9 two weeks ago at the IC4A Championships.
- The last time Bucknell was in action, Joseph, Heitzman and Rycek all earned All-East honors at the IC4A/ECAC Championships. Joseph was seventh in the hammer, while Heitzman took third and Rycek was sixth in the javelin. It was the third such honor for Rycek, the second for Heitzman and the first for Joseph.
- Heitzman will make his third appearance at the NCAA regional meet on Thursday. As a freshman in 2009, he placed 27th (177-7) before improving to 17th (212-11) in 2010. He is now the first Bucknell man to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships in each of his first three seasons. Heitzman enters the 2011 meet seeded 10th among declared athletes. He also ranks 19th nationally.
- In seven meets this spring, Heitzman has won the javelin four times and has never placed worse than fourth. The junior's victories came at Towson (221-10), the Bison Outdoor Classic (237-8), the Bucknell Team Challenge (228-5) and the Patriot League Championship (232-4) where he set a league meet record and earned First Team All-Patriot League honors.
- Like her male counterpart, Rycek also has four javelin wins in seven meets. Her first three victories came at her first three meets of the spring - the Towson Invitational, Colonial Relays and Bison Outdoor Classic. The senior's winning streak ended at the Bucknell Team Challenge where she took second by a mere four inches to teammate Folger. She eventually got back in the wins column with a gold medal at the Patriot League Championships where she snapped a streak of a different kind. Before winning the 2011 league title, Rycek had placed second at the meet in each of her first three championships.
- Rycek is also making her third career appearance at the NCAA regional meet. As a freshman in 2008, she placed 19th (135-7). As Bucknell's only female qualifier last year, she finished 30th (133-10). The only other Bison woman to compete in at least three different regional meets is Melanie Buczko who qualified in the pole vault all four years of her career (2004-07). Rycek enters the 2011 meet seeded seventh in the region and 26th nationally.
- With four javelin wins this spring, Rycek now has eight in her career.
- Making their first career appearance at the NCAA East Preliminaries are Folger and Siegrist. Folger enters competition 42nd among declared athletes, while Siegrist is 44th. Adding Rycek to the mix, 2011 marks the first time Bucknell has had three athletes - male or female - competing in the same event at the same NCAA regional meet.
- Folger earned her third career victory in the javelin with a then-career-best throw of 144-3 at the Bucknell Team Challenge. She improved to 144-6 at the Penn Relays a week later where she placed fourth. The junior placed among the top four finishers in five of her six meets this spring.
- Bucknell's women have taken the javelin title in six of eight meets this spring. Bucknell also took the top four spots at the Towson Invitational, four of the top five at the Bucknell Team Challenge and three of the top four at the Patriot League Championships. The only meets the Bison did not win were the Penn Relays and the ECAC Championships.
- Siegrist earned five top-10 finishes in the javelin during the 2011 season. She placed third on three occasions, including at the Patriot League Championships where she registered a career-best mark of 144-1. It was the sophomore's first time scoring at the league meet.
- Before the Patriot League Championships, Siegrist's top mark had been 139-10. That throw came at the Maryland Invitational in 2010, which was also her collegiate debut. Siegrist took home gold at that meet.
- Siegrist is one of 10 sophomores competing in the women's javelin at this year's NCAA East regional.
- Siegrist's classmate, Joseph is making his first NCAA regional appearance in the men's hammer throw. Joseph has four hammer wins on the year - the Towson Invitational, Bison Outdoor Classic, Bucknell Team Challenge and the Patriot League Championships. His career-best 193-9 earned him seventh place at the IC4A Championships two weeks ago.
- Joseph has medaled in each of his first two Patriot League Championships. Before winning the 2011 hammer title, he placed third in the discus throw in 2010.
- Before the 2011 season got underway, Joseph's best mark in the hammer had been 168-4 at last year's Patriot League Championships where he placed fourth. That gives the sophomore an improvement of better than 25 feet in the last year.
- Joseph enters Friday's competition seeded 38th among declared athletes. He is Bucknell's first hammer qualifier on the men's side since Tyler Hoffman in 2007.
- Joseph got his hammer success going early. Before the 2010-11 school year even started, the native of Whitesboro, N.Y., competed at the U.S. Track & Field (USATF) Junior National Championships in June in Des Moines, Iowa. Joseph placed seventh at the meet.
- Since 2003, 19 men and 21 women have competed at the NCAA regional meet for Bucknell. Matthew Forys, who is also Bucknell's most recent national championships qualifier (2007), is the only Bison to qualify in three different events (steeplechase, 5K, 10K) in a single year. Forys competed only in the steeplechase that year and ultimately placed 17th at the NCAA Championships. Noel Powell earned three berths as well, competing in the 100 meters and long jump in 2003 and the long jump again in 2004. After Thursday, Heitzman and his former teammate and fellow javelin thrower Steven Pierce (2007, 2009, 2010) will be the only Bison men to compete in three different NCAA regional meets.
- Ten Bison men have qualified for the NCAA Championships since 1975 with Thomas McLean and George Buckheit doing it three times each. McLean became Bucknell's only national champion in track and field in 1976 by winning the 800 meters. Jim Heizman qualified in the hammer throw in 1996, making him Bucknell's only field event qualifier in program history.
- After Friday's event, four Bison women will have competed in the javelin at NCAA regional meets. Before Folger, Siegrist and Rycek, Beverly Rogers qualified in the event in both 2007 and 2008. Rogers held the Bucknell javelin record until Rycek took it over three weeks ago.
- Bucknell has had two national qualifiers in program history and they both came in 2004. Buczko finished 11th in the pole vault, while Maria Garcia placed 20th in the hammer that year.
LOOKING AHEAD
The NCAA Championships are scheduled for June 8-11 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Should any of the Bison place in the top 12 and advance past the regional stage, they will compete that Wednesday (men's javelin) and Thursday (women's javelin, men's hammer).
