Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field Eyes Title Defenses at Weekend's Patriot League Championships
5/5/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 5, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A title defense is on the line for both the Bucknell men's and women's track and field teams when they make the trip to Easton, Pa., for the Patriot League Championships May 6-7. The Bison men, who won last year in dramatic fashion thanks to a strong 4x400 relay, are looking for their second team trophy in program history, while the women's squad will go for its seventh title in eight years. Action begins at 10:15 a.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday.
MEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Bucknell claimed a handful of honors this week, starting with Ted Heitzman (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) and Alex Prieto (Princeton Junction, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro South). Heitzman was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week for the third time this season after placing fourth in the championship flight of the college javelin at the Penn Relays with a throw of 230 feet, 10 inches. Prieto earned his second straight Rookie of the Week citation after winning the triple jump at the Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Open. His mark of 46-8 was a career best and is tied for ninth all-time at Bucknell.
- Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) received the Edward W. Pangburn Award at Bucknell's annual Senior Recognition Dinner on Tuesday night. The award is presented "for sportsmanship, fellowship and contributions to the University." Fitzgerald shared the award with Katie Jurenovich of women's golf, who was the female selection.
- The 4x100 relay of Marlon Woods (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods), Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School), Kamal Riley (Hyde Park, Mass./Charlestown) and Isaih Bell (Stone Mountain, Ga./Clarkston) put up two of the fastest times in program history at the Penn Relays. In the qualifying heats, the quartet was 22nd overall with a time of 41.63 seconds, which tied for fourth on the record list. They improved to 41.59 in the IC4A division final, finishing fifth in the race and taking sole possession of fourth in the Bucknell record books.
- The 4x100 was not the only team to impress at the Penn Relays as the 4x800 also broke into the program's top 10. Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain), Christopher Boyd (Gaithersburg, Md./Thomas S. Wootton), John Picardo (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton Central) and Clayton Smith (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) were third in Philadelphia, and their time of 7:33.81 is the sixth-fastest for the Orange and Blue.
- Smith and Boyd are now part of three of Bucknell's ranking 4x800 teams. The two seniors were also members of the relays that are seventh and eighth in program history, making the list in previous seasons.
- At last Saturday's Bloomsburg Open, Fitzgerald was one of a handful of Bison who won multiple events. Fitzgerald tied for first in both the high jump with a season-best 6-6 ¾ and the pole vault. His clearance of 15-1 in the pole vault equaled teammate Nathaniel Witter's (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan) performance. Witter is now tied for 10th in program annals in the event. Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) won both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. His time of 53.08 in the longer event was a season-best.
- Evan Novakowski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) became the third Bison to ink his name on the Bucknell record lists for the outdoor 800 meters when he won the event at Bloomsburg. The senior is 10th on the list (1:53.16), joining Smith (6th, 1:52.11) and Donaldson (8th, 1:52.32). Other events with three current Bison are the shot put with Quinten Marcott (Wayland, Mich./Wayland), Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) and Zachary Shapiro (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) as well as the discus with Luke Webster (Pataskala, Ohio/Newark Catholic), Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) and Barr.
- Bucknell won the 2010 Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championship by a slim three-point margin. With 181 points, the Bison were just ahead of second-place Army's 178. The 4x400 relay clinched the championship for Bucknell. Heading into the final event, the Bison needed to finish no worse than third behind the favorite Black Knights to secure their first league win since 1991. If Army won and Bucknell placed fourth, the Black Knights would win by one point. Arent, Dan Mularz (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township), Picardo and Donaldson were second in the relay with the second-fastest time in program history (3:13.66).
- Along with his clinching performance in the 4x400, Arent also won the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles. The only person to win the open 400 and 400 hurdles in the same championship meet, Arent was named the Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet. Also earning extra honors was Kyle Anthony, the Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet with his double-win in the long jump and triple jump, and Kevin Donner, who was named Coach of the Year.
- Other individual champions at last year's meet include Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) in the decathlon and Steven Pierce in the javelin. Both led in a 1-2 punch for the Bison in their respective events. Thomas Vogler was second to his teammate in the decathlon, while Heitzman was runner-up in the javelin.
- Bucknell has never won back-to-back Patriot League titles. In 20 years, the Bison have placed second on 11 occasions.
WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK
- Sarah Moniz (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Regional) was one of two Bison to receive an award at Bucknell's annual Senior Recognition Dinner on Tuesday. Moniz was honored with the Ronald J. "Pete" Pedrick Award, presented to the senior student-athletes "in recognition of demonstrated improvement and special contributions to the University over a four-year period."
- Moniz also saw her share of success on the track last weekend, recording one of the best 3,000-meter times of her career at the Penn Relays. She placed 21st overall in 9:53.30, her top mark of the season. The finish also qualified her for the ECAC Championships in the event.
- Also at the Penn Relays, Kat Folger (Groton, Mass./Bishop Guertin) placed fourth in the college flight of the javelin. Her throw of 144-6 was the best of her career by three inches. She remains in third all-time at Bucknell, just over 10 feet shy of No. 2 Laura Rycek (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area).
- Sarah Trahan (Sandown, N.H./Timberlane Regional) won the javelin (124-1) at the Bloomsburg Open. The Bison have won the event in five of six meets this season with the only exception being the Penn Relays. The Susquehanna Invitational did not contest the javelin throw in March.
- Jennifer Zymet (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) put together perhaps the best weekend of her young career, winning the 200 meters and the 4x100 at the Bloomsburg Open. Earlier in the week, she also competed in the 4x100 and the third-place distance medley relay at the Penn Relays. In her four races last week, Zymet recorded program top-10 times on three occasions. Her 200-meter mark of 25.08 seconds puts her in fifth after being unranked previously. The 4x100 relay, which included Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant Area), Christina Muccio (Andover, Mass./Andover) and Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover), finished in 48.14 at Bloomsburg, also ranking fifth in the record books. The previous Friday Zymet, Emily Liggett (Grosse Pointe, Mich./The Lawrenceville School (N.J.)), Hana Casalnova (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) and Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) ran the second-fastest time in program history in the distance medley at 11:46.77.
- Zymet was not the only runner to go from unranked in Bucknell history to a top-five time. In the 100-meter hurdles, Funk catapulted into fourth with a time of 14.51 seconds at Bloomsburg. Her previous career best has been 14.95 set the previous week at the Bucknell Team Challenge. Funk won the hurdle race at Bloomsburg.
- In the two meets last weekend, Bucknell set 23 season- or career-best marks.
- Bucknell completed the Triple Crown at last year's Patriot League Championships, having won the title in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. With 191 points in the spring, the Bison bested second-place Navy, which had 120 points. Army was third with 97.
- The Bison have won the outdoor team title in six of the last seven years and 11 times in the 20-year history of the Patriot League. The last time Bucknell did not come home with the team trophy was in 2008 when Army won with two more points than the second-place Bison.
- At the 2010 league meet, Bucknell won six individual titles on their home track. Recent graduates Amy Mantush won the long jump and Chelsey Musante won both the hammer and shot put to earn Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet honors. Casey Krause (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) was the triple jump champion and Rebecca Misko (Morristown, N.J./Madison) won the discus. The only gold on the track came in the 4x800 as Allison Janda, Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), Fulmer and Moniz set a Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium record of 8:59.33. Donner received the Coach of the Year honor, completing the coaching sweep after also taking the award on the men's side.
- Five of Bucknell's six individual wins came in the field events. Of their 191 points, the Bison scored 120 in the field. Contributing greatly to that total were four Bison scorers in both the triple jump - Mantush, Olivia Massey (Westport, Conn./Staples), Jennifer Pierce and Krause - and the long jump - Krause, Mantush, Stephanie Evans, Alexandra Romanelli (Galloway, N.J./Absegami). Bucknell also swept the discus as Misko, Musante and Abby Monaghan (La Plata, Md./La Plata) went 1-2-3 in the event for 24 points.
- Rycek was second in the javelin at last year's championship meet. Now a senior, she has finished runner-up in the event three times and all the results have been extremely close. As a freshman, Rycek trailed only her teammate and current Bucknell record-holder Beverly Rogers by one foot, three inches. As a sophomore in 2009, she was second to Lafayette's Allison Tether by a single inch, 127-10 to 127-9. Last season, the Leopards got the better of Rycek again as Alana Taylor took the title by one foot, eight inches. The Bison veteran will look for a bit of revenge on Lafayette's home turf on Friday afternoon.
- Heading into the weekend, the spiked shoe teams have placed second in this year's cross country and indoor track championships meets. The last time the Bucknell women's team went without a Patriot League title in a full year was 1996-97. The Bison were second at the cross country championship, third in the indoor championship and tied for second outdoors.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell's next challenge will be the IC4A/ECAC Championships. Those Bison who have met the qualifying standards in their respective events will make the trip to Princeton, N.J., May 13-15. Six Bucknellians - Arent, Heitzman, Andrew Huebner, Pierce, Musante and Rycek - received All-East honors at the championships last spring.
