Bucknell University
Bucknell Open
Bison Cross Country Teams Roll in Home Opener
9/3/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2011
Results |
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's and women's cross country teams kicked off their 2011 campaigns Saturday morning with a non-scored home meet at the West Fields, and both squads ran well in overcast, humid conditions. Led by senior Dave Brown (Westborough, Mass./Westborough), the Bison men swept the top eight places, while the women squad piled up 17 of the top 20 finishers, paced by a second-place finish from senior Alysha Hooper (Meaford, Ontario/St. Mary's).
Competing against area rivals Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Juniata, the Bison men went out first and turned in a strong race, with some particularly good performances by some younger runners. It was the senior Brown pacing the field with a time of 14:51 over the three-mile course. Senior Dan Dillon (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) was the only other competitor to break the 15-minute mark, finishing second in 14:54.
Junior D.J. Krystek (Pitcairn, Pa./Gateway Senior) finished third in an even 15:00, and then Bucknell's next five across the line consisted of four freshmen and a sophomore. Newcomer Andrew Kirna (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) placed fourth in 15:05, followed by freshman John Dugan (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey), sophomore Eric Balaban (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), freshman Michael McGowan (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) and freshman Andrew Garcia-Garrison (Detroit, Mich./Catholic Central).
"Our men had a very solid opener," said head coach Kevin Donner. "I was very pleased with the times considering it was a little humid. I was pleased with how well a lot of our guys worked with each other. We are much improved over last year and we are not at full strength yet. Our freshmen were outstanding, although they were in familiar territory with the 3-mile distance. If they can make the transition to the 5 mile distance, we will be a pretty good team."
On the women's side, Bloomsburg's Victoria Davis was the first across the line in 17:36. But after Davis it was a sea of orange jerseys pouring in. Hooper and fellow senior Emily Liggett (Grosse Pointe, Mich./The Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) finished a stride apart for second and third place, with senior Stephanie Fulmer (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) 10 seconds back in fourth place.
Junior Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), sophomore Kady Weisner (Saint Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic), senior Kelly Grosskurth (Huntington Station, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills East) and junior Leah Goeke (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) made it a Bison sweep of the second through eighth places. Juniata's Katrina Woods placed ninth, and then Bucknell took 10 of the next 11 spots as well.
The top freshman finisher for the Bison women was Madeline Dulac (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh School), who finished 11th in a time of 18:20.
"Our top six women ran a nice team race and were well grouped," said Donner. "It was a very solid opener as a team. Our women's team has tremendous depth, which gives us a lot of options, however in order to achieve our goals, we need some people to establish themselves as frontrunners."
Bucknell will compete again in two weeks against Pittsburgh and Duquesne in Schenley Park in Pittsburgh.
