Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track & Field Hosts Gulden Invitational Saturday
1/20/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 20, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell track & field continues its run through the home schedule when it hosts the Gulden Invitational on Saturday at Gerhard Fieldhouse. The Bison will welcome opponents from Duquesne, Mount St. Mary's, Saint Francis (Pa.), Shippensburg and Towson with scored action getting underway at 10 a.m.
"This is our first scored meet of the year and the competition will be very fierce,” said head coach Kevin Donner. “We expect Duquesne and Shippensburg to be very competitive on both the men's and women's sides. Both programs are full-dimensional with quality athletes in all the event areas. Towson's women also look like an all-around program. Saint Francis and Mount Saint Mary's both have pockets of high-quality athletes who will make an impact in the meet.
“This is a great preparation for us as we are one month out from the Patriot League Championships here at home,” Donner continued. “We are going to ask a lot out of our team to see who is ready to handle the pressure and multiple events of a league championship meet."
THROWS
- The awards continued to pour in for Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) when the senior was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week on Jan. 9. Barr has been selected as the league's top male field athlete after each of his meets this winter.
- Barr won the shot put with a personal-best 53 feet, 9 inches at the Bucknell Mini Meet to claim the honor. That ranks him second all-time at Bucknell, less than four inches off the school record, and gives him yet another IC4A Championship-qualifying mark. In his last 10 meets, Barr has taken gold five times and placed among the top five on nine occasions. Barr is expected to compete in the shot put and the weight throw at the Gulden Invitational. Throws events begin at 10:30 a.m.
- Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) claimed his first victory of the year, and the fourth of his career, in the weight throw at the Bucknell Mini Meet earlier this month. His throw of 59-7 ranks third in program annals. Joseph has placed among the top two in the event in each of his meets this season after finishing runner-up to teammate Barr at the Bison Opener in December.
- The Bucknell women also claimed a victory in the shot put at the Mini Meet as Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) won with a throw of 44-4. That made her the first Bison to qualify for the ECAC Championships in March. She has now won the shot put in three of her last four indoor meets, a stretch that includes gold at the Bucknell Winter Classic and the Patriot League Championships last year.
JUMPS/POLE VAULT
- The triple jump, high jump and pole vault all went to the Bison at the Bucknell Mini Meet. Ray Holmes (Campbell, N.Y./Campbell-Savona Central) was the triple jump victor with a personal-record 46-8 ¾, which places him ninth in the Bucknell history books. Holmes has one other triple jump win in his career coming at the 2011 Bucknell Winter Classic where he cracked the program top-10 for the first time. The Gulden Invitational kicks off with the jumps at 10 a.m.
- Daniel Markwalter (Vienna, Va./Thomas Jefferson S&T) and Ian Ferguson (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) tied for first in the pole vault as they both cleared 14-7 ¼. It was the second consecutive meet in which Markwalter tied for first place. He also shared the top step on the podium with another teammate, Nathaniel Witter (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan) at the Bison Opener.
- Emily Ando (Weston, Conn./Weston) completed the pole vault sweep for the Bison. Her clearance of 10-8 at the Mini Meet gave the sophomore her first career win.
- The sweeps continued in the high jump. Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) tied for first at 6-4 ¼ in his 2011-12 debut. Gabrielle Eckles-Shehadi (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) and Laura Lutzker (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) both cleared 5-3 ¼ to claim their first career wins and personal-best heights.
HURDLES
- Like his teammate in the throws, Christian Lupica (Newtown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) earned his second league honor. The freshman was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Jan. 9 after tying for first place in the 60-meter hurdles. Lupica went neck-and-neck with teammate Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) for the title and ended up running a personal best in the process. Lupica now ranks fourth in program annals with a time of 8.31. Both Lupica and Arent and scheduled to compete in the hurdles with the prelims racing at noon at the Gulden Invitational.
- Arent did not run his best time of the year at the Bucknell Mini Meet. That came in the 60m hurdle prelims of the Bison Opener where his time of 8.25 earned him a trip to the IC4A Championships.
- Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant) has distinguished herself as the Bison hurdler to watch on the women's side. The senior won the 60m hurdles at the Mini Meet in 9.09 seconds. She has now finished among the top three in both her hurdle finals this year, while her season-best time of 8.97 came in the prelims at the Bison Opener.
SPRINTS
- Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) and Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover) created a monopoly on the 60 and 200 meters at the Bucknell Mini Meet. The duo combined to sweep the short sprints. Hornock's victory in the 60 meters was her first indoor win since taking the 60-meter title at last year's Patriot League Championships. The junior ranks second in program history in the event and is just .02 seconds off the record. Hornock and Hicks are both among those entered to race in the 60 meters on Saturday. Prelims are set for 12:25 p.m.
- While also earning their keep as hurdlers, Arent and Lupica have made themselves known in the sprints as well. Arent was second overall in the 300 meters at the Mini Meet and now ranks second all-time at Bucknell. His time of 35.34 puts him .48 seconds shy of the school record. Arent has recorded a program top-10 time n each of his 300 races this winter. Lupica was second in the 300, finishing in 22.47 seconds in his debut at that distance.
- Also cracking into the top 10 in the 300 meters at the Mini Meet were Kevin Tapper (Elkridge, Md./Calvert Hall) and Kim Nagotko (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah). Tapper's time of 35.98 is fourth in program annals and makes him the second Bison freshman to ink his name to the record books this winter (Lupica was the first). Nagotko crossed the line in 41.97 to take first place in the meet and third in program history. She is the third Bison woman to add her name to the top 10 in the 300 meters this winter.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- The longer distances proved to be very successful for the Bison at the Bucknell Mini Meet. Beth Braunegg (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.) and Chris Sacks (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) both won the 1000 meters, while Sacks' 2:29.58 earned him a spot at IC4As. Winning is nothing new to Sacks. Most recently, the sophomore also won the mile at the Bison Opener and the 1000 at the 2011 Patriot League Championships where his time of 2:25.32 was good enough for sixth in program annals.
- Michael McGowan (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) was the winner in the men's mile with a time of 4:24.85. That makes him the first Bison freshman to claim gold in his first collegiate meet since Kyle Anthony won the triple jump and long jump, and Timothy Medlock the shot put in their 2006-07 debuts.
- The only running event the women's squad did not win at the Mini Meet was the mile, but Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was a close second. The junior finished just .82 seconds behind the winner from Mount St. Mary's. The Bison did finish second through ninth in the event.
- While the women's mile was one of the closer races, Kady Weisner (Saint Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) was the clear victor at 3000 meters. The sophomore finished in 10:33.78, nearly 25 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell will split its squad next weekend, competing at both the Bison Open & Multi and the Penn State National Invitational. Both meets run Jan. 27-28.
